The Other Gilbert
by LittleMissSarcasm14
Summary: Alyssa Gilbert is the identical twin sister of Elena Gilbert. She's lived in Mystic Falls her entire life and is starting to get bored with the small town. When the Salvatore brothers arrive in town, life starts to get more interesting. But is it too much for Alyssa to handle? And what about the feelings starting to arise between her and the dangerous Damon Salvatore?
1. Pilot

**Hey guys! As you can see, I've decided to write a new story and I hope you guys enjoy it :)**

**Alyssa's POV**

I sighed as I looked down at my diary. I bit my lip, contemplating about what to write before deciding to write about the fresh new start that I'm about to begin. The words came pouring out. 'Dear diary, today will be different. It has to be. I will smile, and it will be believable. My smile will say "I'm fine, thank you." "Yes, I feel much better." I will no longer be the sad little girl who lost her parents. I will start fresh, be someone new. It's the only way I'll make it through.' I closed my diary and hid it behind the picture that was hung on my wall. I walked down stairs and was met by my aunt Jenna and my twin sister Elena, we look almost exactly alike, the only difference being is that my hair is naturally curly while Elena's is naturally straight.

"Toast. I can make toast." Jenna exclaimed stressfully.

"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna." I said, gripping a mug and pouring coffee into it.

"Is there coffee?" Jeremy asked, walking into the kitchen. He then came over and grabbed my mug.

"Uh, excuse you." I glared at him. He shrugged. I rolled my eyes and got a new coffee.

"Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared. Lunch money?" Jenna carried on stressing.

"We're good." Elena assured her.

"Anything else? A number two pencil? What am I missing?"

"Don't you have a big presentation today?" I wondered out loud.

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at...now. Crap!" Jenna cursed, looking at the time.

"Then go. We'll be fine." I told her. She gave me a thankful look and left.

"You ok?" Elena asked Jeremy, who rolled his eyes.

"Don't start." He replied, walking out of the room.

"He'll be fine, Elena." I said to her in a gentle tone. She just nodded.

We were in our friend Bonnie's car heading to school. I was sat in the passenger seat whilst Elena was sat in the back.

"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic. Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that, I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this woman in a home already! But then I started thinking, I predicted Obama and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands...Elena! Back in the car." Bonnie babbled before getting Elena's attention. I snickered a little.

"I did it again, didn't I? I-I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me that…" Elena trailed off, not know what Bonnie had been saying.

"That she's psychic now." I finished for her.

"Right. Ok, then predict something. About me." She said, turning to Bonnie.

"I see…" Bonnie started but was cut of when a big black crow hit the car. Bonnie hit the brakes and the tires screeched loudly. All three of us were breathing heavily.

"What was that?! Oh, my god! You guys, are you ok?" Bonnie asked, panicking about how we would react.

"It's ok. We're fine." I told her. Elena nodded in agreement.

"It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere." Bonnie explained, feeling guilty.

"Really, we can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of our lives." I smiled at Bonnie, who sighed.

"I predict this year is going to be kick ass. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you both and that you are going to be beyond happy." She smiled. Elena and I returned her smile.

We were now walking through the halls of Mystic Falls High School. We stopped by Elena's locker.  
"Major lack of male real estate. Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot — can I still say "tranny mess"?" Bonnie wondered.

"No, that's over." I joked.

"Ahh, find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy year." Bonnie said, making us both laugh. I noticed Elena was distracted and followed her line of vision. Elena waved over to Matt, her ex-boyfriend, but he just sent her a puppy dog look and ignored her.

"He hates me." Elena sighed.

"That's not hate. That's "you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits."" I informed her, trying to make her feel better.

"Ally's right." Bonnie backed me up. A peppy blonde then came bounding over to us and pulled Elena and I into a big hug.

"Alyssa, Elena. Oh, my god. How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you. How are they? Are they good?" Caroline asked Bonnie as if we weren't even there.

"Caroline, we're right here. And we're fine. Thank you." I told her, slightly annoyed by the way she was handling this. But then again, that was just Caroline for you.

"Really?" The blonde asked.

"Yes. Much better." My sister answered, also annoyed.

"Oh, you poor things." Caroline pouted and hugged us again.

"Ok, Caroline." I said in a warning tone.

"Oh! Ok, see you guys later?" She said before walking off.

"Ok! Bye!" Bonnie called after her.

"No comment." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not going to say anything." Bonnie shook her head. Elena laughed at us.

We were walking by the main office when Bonnie stopped us.

"Hold up. Who's this?" She asked curiously.

"All I see is back." Elena shrugged.

"It's a hot back. I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar." Bonnie said, nodding her head.

"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?" I commented.

"Pretty much." She replied.

"Jeremy, good batch, man." I heard a guy say. I turned around and saw my brother go into the boy's bathroom. Elena had noticed too.

"I'll be right back." She said. I followed her, leaving Bonnie to stare at the guy's back.

I found Elena searching Jeremy for drugs.

"Where is it? Is it on you?" She asked angrily.

"Stop, all right?! You need to chill yourself, all right?" Jeremy responded defensively.

"Chill myself? What is that, stoner talk? Dude, you are so cool." Elena replied sarcastically.

"Look, stop! I don't have anything on me. Are you crazy?"

"You haven't seen crazy, Jeremy! I gave you a summer pass, but I am done watching you destroy yourself. No, no, no, you know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time, you got it? Jeremy, I know who you are. And it's not this person. So don't be this person." Elena ranted. Jeremy sent me a pleading look. I sighed in annoyance.

"Ok Elena, that's enough for now." I pulled my sister away, trying to calm her down.

"But Lyss-"

"Elena, enough!" She gave me a look of defeat and walked out.

"Thanks." Jeremy smiled gratefully.

"No problem but she's right, Jer." I told him.

"I don't need this." He said, walking out. I let out a groan and walked out. I found Elena talking to the new guy. She went to leave but he went the same way, she went the other way and so did he. I watched in amusement. The new guy then made way for her just as I walked over.

"Thank you." Elena smiled. I gave the guy a nod and walked with my sister to history.

"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the Northwest region joining the union…" I tuned Mr Tanner out and got lost in my thoughts. I wonder if anything will happen this year. I noticed Elena looking at her phone. 'HAWT-E. STARING U.' Bonnie had sent her a text. Elena looked at the new guy and then at me. I gave her a wink.

Elena and I were sat in the grave yard. Sounds weird I know, but we find it peaceful. After all, our parent's were buried here, so it was only natural that we felt at peace here. I began writing in my diary again. 'Dear diary, I made it through the day. I must have said, "I'm fine, thanks," at least thirty-seven times. And I didn't mean it once. But no one noticed. When someone asks, "How are you?" They really don't want an answer. I wonder if something interesting will happen this year. I hope so.' A crow suddenly appeared on our parents' grave stone.

"Ok. Hi, bird. That's not creepy or anything. Shoo!" I said, shooing the bird away. Elena looked at me weirdly.

"What?" I shrugged. The crow then reappeared and fog started to surround us. I looked around and saw a silhouette stood behind a tomb. I let out a gasp.

"Elena run!" I shouted. We both began to run until Elena tripped over. I helped her up and saw the new guy in front of us.

"You ok?" He asked us.

"Were you following us?" I asked breathless.

"No, I-uh I-just…I saw you fall." He stuttered, looking at Elena.

"Uh-huh, and you just happened to be hanging out in a cemetery." Elena stated suspiciously.

"Elena…" I warned. He had as much right to be here as we did.

"I'm visiting. I have family here." The guy informed us.

"Oh. Wow. Tactless. I'm sorry. It's the fog, It's making me foggy. And then back there, there was this-this bird, and it was all very Hitchcock for a second. That is the bird movie, right, the Hitchcock? ...I'm Elena." Elena rambled.

"And I'm Alyssa." I introduced myself.

"I'm Stefan." He let out a small chuckle.

"I know. We have History together." Elena smiled sheepishly.

"And English and French." I added.

"Right." Elena nodded. Stefan pulled a leaf out of Elena's hair.

"Thanks...Nice ring." Elena said. On his finger was a big silver and blue ring with an S in the middle.

"Oh. Um, It's a family ring, yeah. I'm kinda stuck with it. It's weird, huh?" Stefan chuckled.

"She just meant, there are rings and then there's that." I explained.

"Right. Did you hurt yourself?" Stefan asked Elena.

"Hmm?" Elena asked confused.

"Did you hurt yourself?"

"Oh, uh, I don't know." She rolled up her jeans and found a cut with blood pouring out.

"Oh! Would you look at that. That is not pretty."

"Ugh, you can say that again!" I said, wrinkling my nose up in disgust. Stefan turned around.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"You should go. Take care of that." Stefan said. I looked back at Elena, who was still examining her leg.

"Really, it's nothing." She said, turning around and looking confused.

"What's wrong?" I frowned and looked around, only to find Stefan had disappeared.

Elena and I were about to leave to meet Bonnie.

"We're meeting Bonnie at the grill." Elena told Jenna.

"Ok, have fun. Wait, I got this. Don't stay out late, it's a school night." She smiled proudly.

"Well done, Aunt Jenna." I laughed. Elena opened the door and jumped at the sight of Stefan.

"Sorry, I was about to knock. I wanted to apologise for my disappearing act earlier. I know it was...strange." He explained.

"No worries. I get it, blood makes you squeamish." Elena smiled.

"Um, something like that. How's your leg?"

"Oh, it's fine. Just a scratch, barely. How did you know where I lived?"

"It's a small town. I asked the first person I saw. Um, I thought you might want this back." He said, handing Elena her diary.

"Oh, I must have dropped it. I-thank you." She smiled.

"Don't worry, I didn't...read it." Stefan assured her. I found it amusing how smitten they were with each other.

"No? Why not? Most people would have." Elena asked.

"Well, I wouldn't want anyone to read mine." He replied honestly.

"You keep a journal?"

"Yeah, if I don't write it down, I forget it. Memories are too important."

"Yeah. I'm just gonna...umm, you don't have to stay out there." Elena told him, running upstairs to her room.

"I'm fine. Sorry, were you going somewhere?" He asked me.

"Yeah, we're meeting a friend. Do you want to come?" I asked.

Stefan took me up on my offer and joined Elena and I. When we got to The Grill Matt walked up to us.

"Hey, I'm Matt, nice to meet you." He said, introducing himself to Stefan.

"Hi. Stefan." Stefan nodded.

"Hey." Elena greeted awkwardly.

"Hey." Matt replied just as awkwardly. We sat down with Bonnie and Caroline.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked.

"Mm-Hmm. And moved when I was still young." Stefan answered.

"Parents?" Bonnie questioned.

"My parents passed away."

"I'm sorry. Any siblings?" I wondered.

"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle." Stefan replied.

"So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow." Caroline smiled.

"It's a back to school thing at the falls." Bonnie explained.

"Are you going?" Stefan asked Elena.

"Of course she is." I answered for her. Elena gave me a big, true smile.

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?" Mr Tanner asked Bonnie. I was glad he wasn't asking me. I hate history or rather, I hate our teacher.

"Um...a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot." Bonnie smiled innocently, making the class buzz with laughter.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett. Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?" Mr Tanner smirked.

"It's ok, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it." Matt replied coolly.

"Hmm. Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?" The teacher picked on my poor, innocent twin.

"I'm sorry, I-I don't know." She stuttered.

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break." Mr Tanner snapped. Ok, that was out of line.

"There were 346 casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians." Stefan said, saving Elena.

"That's correct. Mister…?" Mr Tanner trailed off.

"Salvatore."

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

"Distant."

"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Mr Tanner smirked.

"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr. Tanner." Stefan answered back.

"Hmm." Tanner was speechless, which made everyone snicker.

"Just admit it, Elena." Bonnie said. She was trying to get Elena to admit that she liked Stefan. We were currently at the back to school party.

"Oh, ok, so he's a little pretty." Elena admitted.

"You liar, Elena Gilbert. You think he's hot and we all know it!" I stared at her accusingly.

"Alright, alright." She said, putting her hands up in defence.

"He has that romance novel stare." Bonnie commented.

"You noticed that too?" I asked. She nodded.

"So where is he?" Bonnie enquired.

"I don't know. You tell me, you're the psychic one." Elena joked.

"Right, I forgot. Ok, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate." Bonnie said, closing her eyes.

"Wait, you need a crystal ball. Uhh.." I gave her a beer bottle. As Bonnie touched my hand she began spacing out. When she came back to her senses, she abruptly pulled her hand back.

"What? Bonnie what is it?" I asked, concerned for my friend.

"That was weird. When I touched you, I saw a crow."

"What?" I whispered. Elena and I shared a look.

"A crow. There was fog, a man. I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah? Ok, I'm gonna get a refill." Bonnie tried to convince herself and walked away.

"How is that possible?" I whispered to Elena, still in shock. She didn't reply, instead she went to go after Bonnie and bumped into Stefan. Momentarily forgetting my psychic friend, I smirk and excused myself.

I walked around for a while and noticed Jeremy going into the woods.

"Jeremy, where the hell are you going?" I called out after him.

"Whatever you're going to say, I don't want to hear it!" He replied.

"Yeah, well, too bad!" I shouted. Jeremy tripped over something.

"Vicki? No! Oh, my god, it's Vicki!" He started crying out.

"Jeremy?! What is i-Oh my god!" I gasped. Vicki was led on the ground unconscious, she had a big bite mark on her neck.

"Jeremy, pick her up and follow me!" I ordered. He did as I said.

"Somebody help!" I shouted as we got back to the party.

"Vicki? Vicki, what the hell?!" Matt yelled running up to us.

"What happened to her?" Tyler asked.

"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt demanded.

"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler shouted at the crowd, ushering them away.

"It's her neck. Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood." I explained.

"Put this on her neck." A boy said, handing Matt and piece of cloth.

"Vicki, Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me." Matt begged.

The ambulance arrived shortly after being called. Matt left with Vicki in the ambulance.  
"Hey. We're gonna go to Mainline Coffee, wait for news." Bonnie informed me, referring to herself and Caroline.

"I've got to take Jeremy home." I told her.

"Alyssa, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling…"

"Bonnie, what?"

"That it's just the beginning."

I walked over to where Elena and Jeremy.

"You ok? I called Jenna, she's on her way. Those people in uniforms, last time I checked, they're the police. People are going to stop giving you breaks, Jer. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead, because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try, too." I told him. Elena nodded in agreement.

"I've seen you both in the cemetery writing in your diaries. Is that-is that supposed to be you moving on?" He asked, looking down.

"Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted this." Elena sighed.

As soon as I got home I went to bed. I couldn't stop thinking about what Bonnie said. The beginning of what?


	2. The Night of the Comet

**Alyssa's POV**

The next morning Jenna was messing around with her hair. "Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?" She asked me.

"Depends on where you're going." I replied.

"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference. Hair up or down?" She wondered, putting her hair up to show me.

"Sexy stewardess." Elena said, coming up behind me. Jenna let it down.

"Boozy housewife." Elena smirked.

"Up it is. You're feisty today." Jenna commented.

"I feel good, which is rare. So I've decided to go with it. Fly free, walk on the sunshine, and all that stuff. Where is Jeremy?" She explained.

"He left early. Something about getting to wood shop early to finish a birdhouse." Jenna informed us. Obviously the look on Elena's face and my own face gave the truth away.

"There is no wood shop, is there?" Jenna sighed.

"No." I shook my head.

"Yeah." Jenna muttered defeatedly.

We were sat in History class listening to Mr Tanner go on and on.  
"Originally discovered nearly 5 centuries ago, it hasn't been over Mystic Falls in over 145 years. Now, the comet will be its brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration. Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Ms. Gilbert?" Mr Tanner called out Stefan and Elena's names as they were sat staring at each other. They dropped the gazes just as the bell rang.

I walked out with Bonnie and Caroline, who were talking about Bonnie's "psychic powers".

"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?" Caroline asked.

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so." Bonnie chuckled.

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night." Caroline sighed.

"I didn't see him, you did. Why didn't you just talk to him?"

"I don't know. I was drunk."

"Wait, what guy?" I asked. This is Mystic Falls. Everybody knew each other.

"Dark hair, blue eyes, totally hot." Caroline described the guy with a dreamy look on her face.

"Well, good luck finding him." I smiled. I walked over to Matt and Elena.

"Hey guys. Matt, how's Vicki doing?" I asked.

"They're keeping her overnight to make sure there's no infection, but she should be able to come home tomorrow." He told me.

"That's good news."

"Yeah."

"Did you get in touch with your mom?" Elena asked.

"Called and left a message. She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend, so...we'll see how long it takes her to come rushing home." Matt rolled his eyes at the thought of his unreliable mother.

"Vicki's lucky that she's ok." Elena said.

"I know, and now there's talk of some missing campers." Matt replied.

"Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?" I asked.

"She said it was a vampire." …Seriously?

"What?" Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, she wakes up last night and mutters "vampire" and then passes out." Matt explained.

"Ok, that's weird." I commented.

"I think she was drunk. So what's up with you and the new guy?" Matt asked, directing the question at Elena.

"Matt, the last thing that I want to do is hurt you." Elena sighed.

"You know, I'm...I'm actually gonna go back to the hospital. I want to be there when Vicki wakes up, get the real story about last night." Matt said before leaving.

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity." Bonnie explained as we sat in the Mystic Grill.

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens. So then what?" Caroline rolled her eyes, the last part had been directed at Elena.

"So then nothing." Elena shrugged.

"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" Bonnie asked, slightly shocked that they just talked.

"Nope. We didn't go there." Elena denied.

"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we are your friends. Ok? You are supposed to share the smut." Caroline joked.

"We just talked for hours."

"OK, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!"

"Profound." I smirked. Elena got up.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked.

"Caroline's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying what I was going to do. And Alyssa, you're coming with me to make sure I don't chicken out." Elena said, grabbing my wrist.

We got to the boarding house and knocked on the door. No one answered.

"Well, you're not getting out of this so I guess we just let ourselves in and wait." I shrugged, pushing the door open. Don't they lock their door?

"Alyssa you can't…" Elena hissed but shut up when she saw the door open.

"Stefan? Stefan?" I called. A crow flew into the house and I turned around, only to be met by a pair of beautiful crystal blue eyes.

"I...I'm sorry for barging in. The door was...open." I stuttered, looking back to find the door magically closed. I found myself mesmerised by this guy's eyes.

"You must be Elena and Alyssa. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." Damon smirked, kissing the back of my hand. He didn't take his eyes off of me the whole time.

"He didn't tell me he had a brother." Elena said.

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag. Please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second." He placed a hand on the small of my back and guided us into the living room. It was huge and very grand.

"Wow. This is your living room?" Elena breathed out in amazement.

"Living room, parlour, seventies auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste. I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him." Damon admitted.

"The last one?" Elena enquired.

"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend? Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

"Nope." I answered for Elena.

"Oops. Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end." Damon shrugged.

"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end." I frowned.

"I'm a fatalist. Hello, Stefan." Damon smirked at me.

"Elena, Alyssa. I didn't know you were coming over." Stefan said, looking at Damon.

"I know. I should have called, I just…" Elena babbled.

"Oh, don't be silly. You're welcome any time. Aren't they, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But...I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker." Damon cut her off.

"Thank you for stopping by. Nice to see you." Stefan said, practically kicking us out. There was clearly tension between the two brothers.

"Yeah, we should probably go. It was nice to meet you, Damon." I said, wanting to get out of there. There was however, a small part of me that wanted to stay and talk with Damon.

"Great meeting you too Alyssa, and Elena of course." Damon smiled at us. Elena and I went to leave but Stefan blocked our way. He was staring at Damon.

"Stefan...Stefan?" Elena called, trying to snap Stefan out of it. My eyes flickered back to Damon, who had been staring back at Stefan until he felt my gaze on him. His eyes met mine as I fought a blush and looked away. Stefan finally moved and Elena pulled me out.

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues." Elena sighed. She was filling Jenna in about her relationship issues.

"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait until you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues." Jenna warned. I let out a small laugh. Jeremy walked in and straight back out again.

"Jeremy? Jeremy, where were you?" Jenna demanded.

"More stoner stories? Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so that's...that's cool." He smirked, turning around to continue his walk up the stairs. Aunt Jenna got annoyed.

"Oh, no, no, no!" She shouted, throwing an apple at my brother's head. I started laughing uncontrollably.

"Ow! Why? Why...why did you do that?" Jeremy asked, extremely annoyed. He glared at Jenna.

"Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion." Jenna told him.

"Parental authority, I like it. Sleep tight." Jeremy said before walking up the stairs.

"Oh shut it Ally." Jenna said, nudging me. I held my laughter in and put my hands up in defence.

"Sorry!"

The next day Elena, Bonnie and I were handing out leaflets. Our lives are so thrilling.

"Tonight, night of the comet! Would you like a program?" Bonnie smiled at a random person.

"Would you like a program? He didn't call, huh?" I asked my twin, noticing her depressed mood.

"Or text. But I realised we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part." Elena sighed.

"That's an important milestone in any relationship." Bonnie stated.

"Isn't it? The timing is wrong, anyway." Elena said, making excuses.

"When is it ever right?" I asked.

"I'm not ready, Alyssa."

"Who is?"

"At least I put myself out there."

"Is that what you're calling it?" Bonnie asked, raising one eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Elena frowned.

"All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't." Bonnie frowned.

I decided to walk around and take a break from handing out leaflets. I walked around Mystic Falls Square, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face. I had my eyes closed which caused me to walk into someone. My eyes snapped open.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going and I…Damon?" I asked, shocked.

"Ah, the lovely Alyssa." He smirked.

"How'd you guess?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. This guy only met me yesterday, how did he get it right.

"The hair." He stated.

"Oh." Now I felt stupid. Luckily, he just chuckled.

"Are you going to watch the comet tonight?" He asked.

"Yeah, are you?" I asked before biting my lip.

"Hm, not sure."

"Well, if you do you should come and find me." I smiled. He leaned in slightly so that his face was close to mine.  
"Maybe I will." He said with what I think is his trademark smirk.

"Well, I guess I might see you tonight then." I giggled before walking away. I glanced back slightly and caught him staring at me as I walked off.

"Hey, I got some candles." Caroline smiled, handing Elena and I a candle.

"Hi." Elena and I said in sync.

"Hey." Matt greeted, walking over to us.

"Hey." Elena smiled. Matt lit mine and Elena's candle.

"Thank you." We, yet again, said in sync.

"You're welcome." Matt nodded. Elena turned around and bumped into Stefan.

"I'm gonna go." I smirked and left.

I walked around looking for Damon. I couldn't find him anywhere. I sighed and turned around to walk back to the others but walked into someone.

"Sorry!" I practically shouted in this person's face.

"We have got to stop bumping into each other like this." The person said.

"Damon. You came!" I smiled.

"I did." He chuckled.

"Well, there are still a few good spaces left so…" I started.

"But I can't stay long. Got things to do." He cut me off, giving me a wink.

"Oh, well I guess we can just talk until you need to go." I suggested.

"Sounds good."

"So, are you and Stefan close?" I asked.

"Not particularly." He answered.

"Don't you get on?"

"No, not really. How did you know?" He enquired.

"You didn't sound too thrilled when I asked about Stefan." I explained.

"You're a smart one, aren't you?" He chuckled.

"Hey, you have a ring just like Stefan's. Another family ring?" I wondered.

"Yeah, it's kind of tacky, isn't it?"

"Not really tacky, just different. And big." I laughed. He let out another chuckled.

"Well, as much as I don't want to leave you, I have to. But, I hope to see you again soon, Alyssa." Damon smirked at me before slowly leaning forward and planting a kiss on my cheek. I didn't even realise that I had closed my eyes until I opened them and found that Damon had disappeared. I frowned. How did he disappear so quickly? And without me noticing? I sighed, shook my head, and headed toward the Grill to find my friends.

"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" Said a panicked Jeremy.

"You're her stalker. You tell us." Tyler sneered. I rolled my eyes, he had always been an ass.

"I can't find her." Jeremy spat back at him.

"She probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced." Woah, woah, woah, what the hell is with the pill pusher?!

"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena asked, voicing my thoughts.

"Ask him." Tyler glared at Jeremy.

"You wanna do this right now?" Jeremy sighed in annoyance.

"Are you dealing?" I asked angrily.

"She's never gonna go for you." Tyler smirked.

"She already did. Over and over and over again." It was Jeremy's turn to smirk.

"Yeah, right." Tyler scoffed.

"You slept with Vicki Donovan? I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?" Caroline laughed in disbelief.

"There's no way." Tyler shook his head, refusing to believe it.

"And I didn't even have to force her into it." Jeremy told him.

"What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" Matt hissed.

"Nothing, man, just ignore him, he's a punk." Tyler replied.

"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?"

"We'll check the back." Tyler said, walking off with Bonnie and Caroline.

"I'll check the square." Matt said.

"I'll come with you." Jeremy was trying to avoid us.

"Oh, no, no, no. You are coming with us. So that's your game now, dealing?" Elena shoved Jeremy angrily.

"I'm not dealing." Jeremy denied.

"Look, Elena and I are both sick of the tough love speech, Jer. It's clearly having no impact." I spoke up.

"You, Elena and Jenna, between the three of you. Enough already!" Jeremy growled at me.

"We can stop if you want. Send you to a therapist where you'll be forced to deal with it or to rehab where you'll sit in group and tell some stranger how you let your life fall apart. Or you could talk to me." I said in a calm voice, trying to get through to my idiot brother.

"I vote for none of the above." Jeremy rolled his eyes and walked off.

"We will ever get through to him?" Elena asked quietly.

"I hope so." I sighed.

Vicki had been found and Elena had gone to check on Matt. I got home and heard rustling coming from Jeremy's room.

"Jer?" I called out as I walked into his room.

"No, it's me, the hypocrite patrol." Jenna sighed, holding up her hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I've become my worst nightmare. The authority figure who has to violate a 15-year-old's privacy. Jackpot. I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative." She said holding up some drugs Jeremy had hidden in a shoe.

"What brought this on?" I wondered, taking a seat.

"Your ass-hat of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday." Ah, now I get it.

"You got tannered. Been there." I nodded understandingly.

""Discover the impossible, Ms. Summers." Got it. Thanks. Like I didn't know I was screwing up." Jenna mocked my teacher.

"You're not screwing up, Aunt Jenna." I told her.

"Yes, I am. You know why? Because I'm not her. She made everything look so easy. You know, high school, marriage, having you. I can't do it. I'm gonna say or do the wrong thing, and he's gonna get worse, and it's gonna be my fault. It's impossible." Jenna ranted. She was talking about my mom. I looked down at the ground and then shook my head.

"This is just the fear talking. You're a little scared, that's all. We all are. Look, I'm really tired and I really want my bed. Are you going to be ok?" I asked. She nodded.

After getting ready for bed, I got my diary out. 'Dear diary, today was different. A good kind of different. I spent some time with this guy and I actually smiled a true smile. Things are finally starting to look up.' I smiled as I shut my diary and put it away. I heard a caw coming from outside and noticed a crow sat on the tree. I smacked my window and it flew off. Stupid bird. Is it following me now? I shook the thought out of my head. I'm going crazy. I jumped into bed and fell asleep thinking about Damon.

**Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it :)**


	3. Friday Night Bites

**Alyssa's POV**

It was early in the morning and I was still half asleep. I was walking into school with Bonnie and Elena.

"I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow." Bonnie shrugged.

"Hold up a second, I seem to recall you encouraging her to go for it." I snickered, nudging her side.

"Now I'm saying take it slow." She said, rolling her eyes at me.

"Why the about-face?" Elena asked suspiciously.

"It's not an about-face. You're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field." Bonnie replied.

"Oh, because I'm so that girl. Seriously, what are you not saying?" Elena laughed, stopping Bonnie in her tracks.

"It's stupid."

"Bonnie…"

"What?" She snapped.

"Spit it out." Elena demanded.

"I accidentally touched Stefan. And I got a really bad feeling." Bonnie admitted.

"Is that it?" I asked, giving her a disbelieving look.

"It was bad bad!" Bonnie defended.

"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" Elena wondered.

"You know what? I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."

"And I love you for it, I do. But I feel good. It's been a hard year, and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that." Elena told her. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

"Good morning, Elena, Alyssa. Good morning, Bonnie." Stefan greeted with a smile.

"Hey Stefan!" I smiled back.

"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll see you guys later." Bonnie said before rushing off.

"I'll go after her." I sighed.

"Bonnie!" I called after my friend in the hallway. She turned around and waited for me.

"C'mon, give the guy a break! You don't even know him, plus he makes Elena happy!" I said, trying to persuade her to give Stefan a chance.

"I have a bad feeling, Ally." She sighed.

"Do it for Elena? Pleeeeaaaasee?" I pouted.

"Fine." She gave in. A smile graced my lips.

"Yay!" I cheered.

I was sat in history class praying that Tanner wouldn't ask me any questions.

"World war II ended in...Anyone got anything? Miss Juan? 1945." Tanner answered his on question.

"Pearl Harbour? Miss Gilbert?" Tanner asked my sister. She stared back with a blank expression.

"Hmm?" Elena murmured.

"Pearl Harbour?" Tanner repeated.

"December 7, 1941." Stefan interrupted, saving Elena's ass.

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert." Tanner sneered at Stefan.

"Anytime." Stefan smirked.

"Very well. The fall of the Berlin wall." Tanner cheered.

"1989. I'm good with dates, sir." Stefan answered.

"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy assassination."

"1963."

"Martin Luther King."

"'68."

"Lincoln."

"1865."

"Roe vs. Wade."

"1973."

"1954."

"The battle of Gettysburg."

"1863."

"Korean war."

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha! It ended in '52." Tanner cheered. Everyone groaned at Stefan's defeat until…

"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53." Stefan said confidently.

"Look it up, somebody. Quickly." Tanner demanded.

"It was 19...53." A guy snickered. Everyone cheered.

Elena and I decided to go back to cheerleading practice.

"Oh, my God! You're here!" Bonnie grinned, pulling us both into a hug.

"Yep. We can't be the sad girls forever. The only way to get things back to the way they were are to do things that were. Oh, and you're coming to dinner tonight." Elena stated. I didn't know Bonnie was coming round tonight.

"I am?"

"She is?" Bonnie and I asked at the same time.

"Mm-hmm. You, me, Alyssa and Stefan. You have to give him a chance." Elena said firmly.

"Tonight's no good. Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times." Bonnie said changing the subject.

"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett! You're going to be there." I told her. She looked at me with an annoyed expression. I gave her a look that said 'you're going. No matter what.'

"Fine. I'll go." Bonnie sighed.

"Good." Elena grinned.

"Seriously, where is Caroline?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know. It's not like her." Elena shook her head.

"I'll try her again." Bonnie said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. A car then pulled up and I felt sick of the sight. Caroline was in the passengers seat leaning over and kissing the driver. The driver who turned out to be none other than Damon Salvatore.

"Uh…" Elena muttered, getting up.

"Oh my god. That must be the mystery guy from the grill." Bonnie said.

"That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore." I frowned.

"Salvatore, as in Stefan?!" Bonnie exclaimed. Caroline got out of the car and skipped over to us. My eyes flickered to Damon, who had pulled his sunglasses off and was now staring at me. I frowned again and looked away.

"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind. Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy." Caroline smirked. I rolled my eyes at her smug grin. I felt angry at her even though I knew it wasn't her fault. She didn't know that I had met Damon.

"All right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler, what do you say? And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8." Caroline called out. Elena and I tried doing the routine, watching everyone else and trying to copy their movements. Clearly we weren't doing it right as Caroline called us out.

"Elena, Alyssa, why don't you just observe today? Ok? Keep going! Ok. Do it again from the top. And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8." Caroline gave us a fake smile. I sighed and walked to the back. Elena nudged me and pointed to the football fields. I saw Stefan playing football and looked over to see a triumphant smile on her face.

"I'm glad he actually went for the team." Elena smiled.

"He's amazing!" I commented. Elena just laughed.

We were putting microwaved food in nice bowls to make it look homemade.

"You explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial breaks come on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial. And sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture." Bonnie ranted on about her 'magical powers'.

"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop." Elena chuckled.

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?"

"Maybe we should play the lottery. Have you talked to your Grams?" I smirked, enjoying teasing my friend.

"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?" Bonnie asked me.

"I don't want to be a witch." I shook my head.

"And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody." Bonnie laughed.

"Ok, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" Elena wondered.

"Middle drawer on your left." Bonnie told her.

"Ok, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times."

"Yeah, that's it." The doorbell rang, signalling Stefan's arrival. Bonnie shuffled around nervously.

"Ok, he's here. Don't be nervous. Just be your normal loving self." Elena told Bonnie. She left to answer the door.

"Birthday candles." Bonnie muttered. She opened a random draw and found some birthday candles that even I didn't know were there. I stared at her in wonder. She gave me a 'told you so look'.

Elena, Stefan, Bonnie and I were sat at the table eating awkwardly.

"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked Stefan, trying to make conversation.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Stefan answered.

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and…" Elena was cut off by Bonnie.

"Yeah, I heard." Bonnie said shortly.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" I suggested.

"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Bonnie told him, knowing what I really meant.

"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool." I told Stefan.

"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie glared at me.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan said to Bonnie.

"My family came by way of Salem." She interrupted him.

"Really? Salem witches?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah."

"I would say that's pretty cool."

"Really? Why?"

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan smiled at Bonnie.

"Yeah, they are." Bonnie agreed. The doorbell rang.

"I wonder who that could be." Elena said.

"I'll get it." I offered. I opened the door and found Caroline and Damon.

"Surprise! Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert." Caroline smiled.

"Oh." I frowned.

"Hope you don't mind." Damon said with a smouldering look. Stefan walked up behind me.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at his brother.

"Waiting for Alyssa to invite me in." Damon smirked, not taking his eyes off of me. I sighed.

"Oh, yeah, you can…" I started.

"No, no, no. He can't, uh...he can't stay. Can you, Damon?" Stefan cut me off, glaring at Damon. Caroline pushed pass me.

"Get in here." She demanded, smiling at Damon.

"We're just…finishing up." Stefan said, trying to get Damon to leave. I was getting sick of the whole thing.

"It's fine, Stefan. You can come in, Damon." I nodded towards Damon. He smirked at Stefan and then looked at me.

"You have a beautiful home, Alyssa." He said as he walked through the hallway, looking around the house.

"Thank you."

After eating dessert we moved to the living room.

"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it." Caroline smiled at Stefan.

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it." Damon smirked.

"Yeah, Elena and Alyssa weren't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines." Caroline stressed. I rolled my eyes at her. She was really starting to bug me.

"I'll work with them. They'll get it." Bonnie told Caroline in a firm tone.

"I guess we can put them in the back." Caroline muttered.

"You know, neither of you seem like the cheerleader type." Damon noted.

"Oh, it's just 'cause their parents died. Yeah, I mean, they are just totally going through a blah phase. They used to be way more fun. And I say that with complete sensitivity." Caroline added after seeing mine and Elena's hurt expressions and Bonnie's angry warning glare.

"I'm sorry. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Damon told us.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan glared at his brother.

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up." Damon smirked. Bring who up? Katherine maybe?

"I'm going to go start clearing the kitchen." I said as I got up.

I was placing a plate into the dishwasher when Damon came into the kitchen.

"One more." He smiled, passing me a glass.

"Oh, thank you." I smiled back. As he handed me the glass he dropped it. I waited the sound of shattering glass only to find that Damon had caught it.

"Nice save." I laughed.

"I like you. You know how to laugh. And you can really put a smile on my face, which is something no one has been able to do in a very long time." Damon chuckled. I blushed and looked down. I then remembered the conversation we had earlier.

"Earlier, did you mean...Katherine?" I asked cautiously.

"Mm-hmm."

"How did she die?"

"In a fire. Tragic fire." He answered.

"Recently?" I wondered.

"It seems like it was yesterday." Damon shrugged.

"What was she like?"

"She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department. She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive." He smirked. I put 2 and 2 together in my head.

"So which one of you dated her first?" I asked.

"Nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine. I'd quit cheerleading if I were you." Damon suggested.

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I saw you at practice. You looked miserable."

"You saw that?" I sighed.

"Am I wrong?" He asked. I gave him a small smile.

"No, I mean, I used to love it. It was fun. But then my parents died and things changed. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore." I admitted. I liked talking with Damon, he was easy to talk to.

"So don't let it. Quit, move on. Problem solved. Ta-da." He smiled.

"Some things could matter again." I argued.

"Maybe. But...seems a little unrealistic to me."

"So, how did you and Caroline happen?" I asked accusingly.

"Uh I'm not really sure. It just kinda..happened." He chuckled.

"I see." I looked away from his gaze.

"Jealous?" I saw him smirk out of the corner of my eye.

"Why would I be?" I shot back. He held his hands up in defence.

"Just curious." He stated. I rolled my eyes at him but then became serious.

"I'm sorry." I smiled. He looked extremely confused.

"About Katherine. You lost her, too." I continued.

"And I'm sorry about your parents." He smiled back. I didn't realise how close we were until we were leaning in. Luckily, Bonnie walked in, causing me to pull back. I can't believe I almost kissed Caroline's boyfriend!

"Hey. Need some help?" Bonnie offered.

"Sure, why not?" Damon replied, accepting her help.

I was brushing my hair, about to get into bed when Damon appeared behind me. I jumped and span around.

"Damon?! What are you doing here?" I whispered so that I didn't get us caught.

"Just finishing what we started." He smirked.

"What does that even me-" I was cut off by a pair of lips on my own. I got lost in the kiss and wrapped my arms around Damon's neck, pulling him as close as possible. He wrapped his arms around my waist and gently guided me to my bed. We fell onto the bed and… then I woke up with a start. I was breathing heavily and got up to grab a glass of water. I heard a quiet caw and turned around to find that damn crow at the window again. I shooed it off. Stupid bird.

It was the day of the big football game and Elena and I went to cheer Stefan on. We had just arrived as Stefan walked up to us in his football jersey.

"Ooh, look at you. You look hot in your jersey." Elena smirked.

"What happened? No more cheerleader?" Stefan asked, taking in our appearances.

"We quit. We're a quitters." Elena joked.

"No, hey, you're not a quitter. You suffered a great loss. Neither of you are the same person. You should be looking ahead. You should be starting over. Ok? I hope you don't think this is too soon or too weird, but...I, uh, I wanted you to have this." Stefan said, showing Elena a beautiful necklace.

"Oh my God, it's beautiful."

"It's something that I've had forever, and, uh, I've never wanted to give it to anyone until now. I'd very much like it if you'd wear it for me, for...good luck."

"Well, this is awkward so I'm just gonna go…" I waved but was stopped by Stefan.

"Alyssa, wait! I actually have something for you. To kind of represent the beginning of a new friendship." He smiled at me, handing me a silver bracelet with a treasure box charm attached to it.

"It's gorgeous! You didn't have to." I smiled.

"I wanted to." He replied. Elena grinned at the two of us getting along. I could smell a sweet scent coming from the bracelet and necklace.

"Is that rose that I smell?" I asked.

"No, it's, uh...it's an herb. It's nice, huh?"

"I love it." Elena smiled.

"Well, thank you for the bracelet, Stefan. I will leave you two to it." I waved to them, walking off. Unfortunately for me, I bumped into the blonde bombshell that is my best friend.

"Hey Caroline…" I greeted nervously, not really wanting to face the wrath of the blonde.

"And you're not in uniform because…" She trailed off with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I quit…" I said before running off.

It soon became dark and Mr Tanner started his speech.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us! But that is about to change. We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offence, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" Mr Tanner cheered. People applauded, booed and cheered in all the appropriate places. I noticed Stefan's sheepish smile and cheered loudly for him. He heard me and playfully rolled his eyes at me. A fight suddenly broke out between Jeremy and Tyler.

"For the love of god." I muttered, annoyed at how childishly they act towards each other.

"Tyler, stop it! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Stop it! Stop, you're hurting him! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Tyler! Stop it! Tyler, stop!" Vicki screamed as the two continued fighting. I went over to try and stop it but Stefan grabbed Jeremy before I could reach them.

"Hey, he's down! Enough!" Stefan yelled at Tyler. Tyler punched Stefan. Jeremy, seeing his chance, had picked up a broken glass bottle and went to strike Tyler, who moved out of the way making the bottle cut Stefan's hand instead.

"Oh my god!" I yelled running over to Jeremy, who looked shocked at what just happened. Elena saw that I was dealing with Jeremy and went to check on Stefan.

"What the hell, Jeremy? Put your head up, you're bleeding." I ordered, pissed off.

"I'm fine!" Jeremy growled.

"Yeah, you smell fine." I glowered at my brother.

"Just stop, ok?"

"Come on, man. Come on." I heard Matt say to Tyler, whilst pulling him away. I walked over to Elena, who looked confused.

"You ok?" I asked.

"I saw the bottle cut Stefan's hand but when I looked…there was no scratch, not a single mark." She frowned.

"That's impossible. I saw it cut Stefan as well." Now I was frowning.

"Let's find Bonnie."

We found her and called her over.  
"Hey! Where have you been?" Bonnie asked.

"Can I ask you a question and you give me a really serious no-joke response?" Elena asked, ignoring her question.

"Of course. What is it?"

"The bad mojo. When you touched Stefan and you had that reaction…"

"You know what, forget I said that. Your little dinner party plot totally won me over." Bonnie smiled.

"No, Bonnie, seriously. What was it? Did you see something, Or…"

"It wasn't clear like a picture. Like today, I keep seeing those same numbers I told you about...8, 14, 22." 8, 14 and 22? That's weird.

"Really?" I asked.

"When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it…" Bonnie looked down.

"And what?" I monitored for her to continue.

"It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like." Bonnie sighed. Death?

I was shutting the boot of my car, lost in thought. Bonnie felt death when she touched Stefan? And what do those numbers mean. I felt a presence behind me and turned around.

"Oh my god, you scared me. What are you doing here?" I asked, startled at his sudden appearance.

"I'm hiding from Caroline." Damon whispered.

"So am I." I whispered back.

"Why are you hiding?" He asked.

"I quit cheerleading and she caught me, but I ran off so…" I shrugged.

"Well, I needed a break. She talks more than I can listen." He explained.

"That could be a sign."

"Well, she's awfully young."

"Not much younger than you are." I giggled.

"I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture. I think she'd drive me crazy." He smirked.

"Look, Caroline does have some really annoying traits, trust me I know, but we've been friends since the first grade and that means something to me." I told him.

"Duly noted. I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention."

"You don't make me uncomfortable. Actually, I find it easy to talk to you." I admitted.

"Me too." He replied.

"Why are you with Caroline? Answer me honestly."

"She's a distraction." He shrugged.

"A distraction? From what?" I asked curiously. He chuckled.

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

"When do I get to find out?" I asked, pushing for a clear answer.

"You know, I get to you." He said, changing the subject.

"Oh really?"

"You find yourself drawn to me. You think about me even when you don't want to think about me. I bet you even dreamed about me. And right now…you want to kiss me." He looked right into my eyes and gave me his signature smirk. He started to lean in to kiss me. However, I was aware of my actions this time. Did he seriously think that he could use his charm and I would do anything he wanted? What an ass. Not to mention that he's Caroline's boyfriend! So, I slapped him. Right across the face. Hard.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at? I don't know what game you're trying to play here, but I don't want to be part of it. And let's get one thing straight... I am not Katherine. So don't think you can have your way with me so easily. I hissed at him and stormed off.

Elena came up to me.

"Hey, are you ok? Tonight was awful." She sighed.

"I'm fine. Tell me about it, Damon is such an ass!" I replied. She gave me a look of confusion.

"I wasn't talking about Damon…you haven't heard?" Elena asked. I shook my head.

"Heard what?"

"Mr Tanner's dead." She said quietly.

"What?! How?!" I practically shouted.

"An animal attack."

"You mean like Vicki's?" I wondered. She nodded.

As soon as I got in, I changed into pyjamas and threw myself onto my bed, pulling the covers over me. Today has been too exhausting. I felt my eyelids grow heavy and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I woke up after feeling someone caress my face. I sat up disorientated and looked around in confusion, but no one was there. I shrugged to myself and went back to sleep.

**So, here's the next chapter! Hope you guys like it :)**


	4. Family Ties

**Alyssa's POV**  
I grabbed a cup of coffee and glanced towards the TV.

"To repeat, the animal terrorising Mystic Falls has been caught." The news guy said. Well, thank god that's over.

"Scum ball. Scum bucket." I heard Jenna mutter.

"Who are you talking to?" Elena asked, wondering why our aunt was muttering insults over and over again. I have to say, I'm quite curious myself.

"Him." Jenna frowned in disgust, looking over at the news guy.

"The news guy?" Elena tilted her head to the side.

"You do realise he can't hear you, right?" I asked my aunt, worried for her mental health.

"Also known as Logan "Scum" Fell and yes Ally, I know he can't hear me. Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Jenna said, hinting to us by looking at the TV.

"Oh, no way. You and him? He's cute." Elena gushed.

"Not really." I disagreed causing Jenna to grin at me.

"He is not cute. There's nothing cute about him. What are you doing with that?" Jenna asked, referring to the box in Elena's hands.

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display." Elena explained.

"Is that grandma Beth's wedding ring?" Jenna wondered.

"Originally it was great-great-grandma Mary's wedding ring." I smirked. Jeremy walked in and grabbed a piece of jewellery.

"How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?" He asked examining it. I snatched the jewellery away while Elena glared at him.

"You're not gonna find out." She scolded him.

"That stuff is mom and dad's. You can't just give it away." Jeremy protested.

"You're a hypocrite, you know that Jer?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Whatever." He muttered as he pushed pass me.

"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy." Elena said talking as if Jeremy was a little kid. The doorbell went and Elena got up to answer. I'm guessing it was Stefan as she never came back into the kitchen.

"Elena's been getting on with Stefan very well." Jenna commented.

"Yeah, she has. I'm glad she's finally happy." I smiled.

"Now we just have to find you a boyfriend." She smirked.

"Shut up!" I grinned at my aunt. She looked at me carefully.

"There's someone you like!" She exclaimed.

"No-no there isn't!" I stuttered.

"Yes there is!" Jenna said in a sing-song voice.

"Whatever you say aunt Jenna!" I held my hands up in defence and walked away.

* * *

I met up with Caroline and Bonnie at the Grill. I couldn't help but feel a little awkward around Caroline. After all, her boyfriend tried to kiss me.

"Hey guys!" I smiled uneasily.

"Hey!" They greeted in sync. I sat down in the spare seat.

"So, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"Caroline is taking Damon to the founder's party." Bonnie sighed.

"Well, I guess that leaves you and me!" I nudged her.

"Alyssa, will you be my date?" Bonnie asked dramatically.

"Why of course!" I replied in a dreamy voice. We burst into laughter.

"So, is your mom ok with you bringing Damon?" I asked Caroline. I hated how jealous I felt.

"And I'm supposed to care why?" Caroline snapped.

"He's older sexy danger guy." Bonnie said matter-of-factly.

"Older sexy danger guy? Is that an official witch twitter tweet?" Caroline teased.

"No more witch jokes, ok? That whole Mr. Tanner prediction thing has me freaked."

"Ok. And Damon's not dangerous. You know, he just has a lot of issues with his brother. You know, like major, deep-rooted drama." I suddenly got a lot more interested in the conversation.

"Like…?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm not really supposed to say anything." Caroline sighed.

"Caroline Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?" Bonnie scoffed.

"Ok. But you can't tell Elena. Especially you, Alyssa." Caroline narrowed her eyes at me.

"Ok!" I said defensively.

"Well, they both dated this girl, Katherine. In the end she chose Damon which made Stefan go crazy, so he did horrible things to try and break them up, including manipulating Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon." Caroline explained.

"You don't actually believe that do you? Stefan would never do that!" I defended Stefan.

"Damon wouldn't lie." Caroline glared at me.

"Yeah well, they probably have very different stories." I hissed.

"Alyssa…how do you know you can trust Stefan? What do you know about him?" Bonnie asked. I couldn't answer. What did I know about Stefan? Or Damon for that matter.

* * *

Elena, Bonnie and I were sat at the table painting our nails. I couldn't stop thinking about what Caroline told us.

"Delicate flower vs. Naughty vixen." Bonnie wondered.

"Tough call. Can we mix them?" Elena smiled.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date. You seem happy-ish." Bonnie grinned.

"I am...ish. Tonight's going to be a good night. But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door." Bonnie's head snapped up. Elena's gaze moved to me.

"You've been awfully quiet." She glared at me accusingly.

"What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin your night." Bonnie shrugged.

"Out with it." Elena demanded.

"Ok, but it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill us if it gets back to Damon that she squealed. Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story."

"Uh-huh." Elena said suspiciously.

"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?"

"I know that they both dated her and that's why they have issues."

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon."

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's."

"That's what I said." I spoke up.

"I just wanted you to know." Bonnie sighed.

"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business." Elena told us.

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business." Bonnie muttered.

"Stefan is none of those things."

"Yeah? How do you know?" Bonnie questioned Elena, just like she had questioned me. Elena couldn't answer either.

* * *

The three of us had moved up to Elena's room to do our hair and make-up etc. The home phone started ringing. Elena answered it and jumped on her bed.

"Hello? Hi, Mrs Lockwood. What do you mean? It is? Are you sure? 'Cause I saw it. Let me check. Mm-hmm. I will find it and bring it. Ok. Bye." Elena got a knowing look on her face.

"What is it?" I asked. She stormed off into Jeremy's room. I went after her and saw her hit Jeremy on the head. He took his headphones off and glared at Elena.

"Ah! God, what now?" He grumbled.

"The pocket watch. Where is it?" Elena demanded. I let out a sigh.

"What watch?" Jeremy asked, playing dumb.

"The one you stole from mom's box. Look, Mrs Lockwood just called me, freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it."

"Maybe she did. Maybe Tyler took it." Jeremy said defensively. I suddenly realised why he would hide the watch. It was his.

"Don't even play that card. Jeremy, you took it. If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?" Elena sneered.

"Elena, maybe you should…" I started but Jeremy cut me off.

"Screw you. I would never sell this, ok?" He told her angrily, placing the pocket watching her hand.

"Then why did you take it?" Elena asked.

"Because it's supposed to be his, Elena." I told her quietly. She turned to look at me with a confused expression which quickly turned into one of realisation.

"It goes to the firstborn son. Which means it's yours." Elena said guiltily.

"Yeah." Jeremy murmured.

"Look, Jeremy, it's still yours, ok? Mom promised Mrs Lockwood. What do you want me to do?" Elena asked, walking out of his room.

"Just take it and get out." Jeremy growled. Elena and I shared a look and left him alone.

* * *

Before we left for the party Elena gave the pocket watch back to Jeremy.

"What about Mrs. Lockwood?" I snickered.

"I'll make something up." Elena shrugged.

* * *

I showed up at the Lockwood Mansion with Bonnie. We greeted Mayor Lockwood who ushered us in and Bonnie took off in search of champagne.

"Guess who." Said a voice. I sighed and urned around.

"What do you want Damon?" I asked in a bored tone.

"I wanted to apologise for the way I behaved the other night." He said sincerely.

"Apology accepted." I nodded to him.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked, holding his hand out for me to take.

"Sure, but only one dance." I warned.

"Of course." He smirked. We walked over to the dance floor and joined everyone else. Damon placed a hand on my waist while I rested one on his shoulder and held his other hand with mine. I made the mistake of looking up into his eyes and decided to start talking to distract myself.

"Can I ask what happened with Katherine? I've been kinda curious ever since you mentioned the-uh-the fire." I asked cautiously.

"Well, my brother and I both dated her, as you know. She chose me, Stefan didn't like it and well, everything kinda went down hill from there." He smirked.

"I don't really believe that. Sorry, I just- I can't imagine-"

"Stefan acting like that? It's in the past now." Damon shrugged. I looked down awkwardly, I guess that's the end of that conversation.

"I think I'm going to go and look around upstairs." I told him whilst pulling myself out of his embrace, only to have him grip my wrist.

"I'll join you." He smiled at me.

"Sure." I responded with my own smile. Caroline bounded up to us.

"Where are you two going?" She asked cheerfully.

"To look at the history." I told her.

"I'll come too!"

* * *

We walked upstairs and found Elena and Stefan looking at the history.

""The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration." Wow, look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names; Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?" I heard my sister ask. My eyes widened in surprise.

"Stefan and Damon Salvatore?" I muttered to myself.

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Damon explained.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan said to his brother.

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family." Elena smiled.

"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance. And Damon will only dance with Alyssa." Caroline whined, glaring playfully at Damon, who shrugged. Elena raised an eyebrow at this.

"Could I just borrow your date?" Caroline begged.

"Oh, uh…" Elena glanced at Stefan, not knowing what to say.

"I don't really dance." Stefan excused himself.

"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all." Damon chuckled.

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Caroline asked.

"It's up to Stefan." Elena shrugged.

"Well sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer." Caroline dragged Stefan away.

"I'm going to go downstairs, make sure she doesn't exhaust him." Elena said, only half joking.

"You know, the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers." Damon informed me.

"Really?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah. The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the war. There was a battle here—" I cut him off.

"The battle of willow creek."

"Right."

"I know, we talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside." I said, only just remembering what I was taught.

"What the history books left out was the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathisers. So, some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood." Damon explained. He smiled at the fact that he had my full attention.

"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" I enquired.

"A woman, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" He asked me seriously.

"I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, I hope you two can work it out." I smiled at him.

"I hope so, too." He grinned back at me, although I wasn't so sure that he actually meant it.

* * *

Later on in the evening I was sitting on a couch with Bonnie and Elena, consoling Elena about a fight she had with Stefan.

"This is my fault. I planted doubt. I'm a doubt planter." Bonnie stressed guiltily.

"It's not your fault. I just-I feel terrible because I got in the middle of him and Damon, and I pushed him too hard. I got all snotty." Elena frowned. Mrs. Lockwood walked over to us and sat down in a chair.

"Elena, honey, there you are. I notice the watch still isn't in the collection." She smiled at my sister. What is it with her and that watch?

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood. I, um, I couldn't find it. I guess it's still packed up in my parents' stuff somewhere." Elena lied.

"I see. Well, please let me know if you do find it." She said before getting up and leaving.

* * *

Bonnie and I were sat in the living room.

"I saw you and Damon dancing earlier." Bonnie told me.

"What of it?" I asked, tired and bored.

"You like him, don't you?"

"No, I don't." I told her firmly.

"Don't lie to me, Ally." She warned.

"Even if I did, it wouldn't matter. He's dating Caroline, remember?" I rolled my eyes.

"He looked pretty into you." She shrugged. Mrs. Lockwood walked over to a waiter and began being all bitchy towards him.

"Look around. What's missing? The flames, the candles. Why aren't they lit? There's matches in the kitchen." She sighed in annoyance. She walked passed us.

"Bitch." Bonnie and I whispered in sync, laughing when we realised that we said it together.

"I'm going to try something." Bonnie stated, handing me her glass and staring at a candle. Nothing happened and she turned around sighing. Suddenly, all the candles in the room lit up.

"Oh my god." I murmured, making Bonnie turn around. I looked at Bonnie with wide eyes.

"Did you do that?" I grinned.

"Yeah, I think I did."

"When your Grams said you were a witch…did she mean it?" I asked. Bonnie could only nod.

* * *

Bonnie had gone off to get her head around what just happened wile I went outside for some air.

"Hi." I heard come from beside me.

"Hey." I replied, turning to face Damon.

"You ok? You look a little dazed." He noted. Oh, nothing really. I just found out that my best friend can light up a whole room of candles just by looking at them.

"I'm fine. You know, Caroline's probably going to get jealous if you keep talking to me." I warned him.

"I think I can handle her." He smirked at me. Elena stormed over and pushed Damon.

"Woah, Elena what are you doing?" I stood in front of Damon.

"There is something seriously wrong with you. You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight to her mother, the sheriff. You got it? Stay away from her." She spat at Damon. After her threat she stomped off.

"What have you done?" I asked hesitantly, backing away from Damon.

"Nothing, Alyssa." He frowned and walked off. I went after Elena.

* * *

"What is going on?" I asked my sister when I found her.

"Stay away from Damon, Alyssa. He is bad news. He's been hurting Caroline." She informed me.

"What?" I whispered in shock. Elena wrapped her arms around me.

"She's going to be ok, Lyss." She whispered gently. We went to find Caroline and found her sobbing.

"Caroline? There you are. We've been looking everywhere for you. Are you ok?" Elena called out to her.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Caroline answered

"Caroline, what happened?" I asked.

"I'm fine." Replied the blonde. She began violently shaking.

"No. You're shaking. Caroline-what-" Elena started.

"I'm fine!" Caroline cried.

"Caroline, come here, come here." We both hugged her tightly. What the hell is going on?

**Next chapter! Hope you enjoy! :)**


	5. You're Undead To Me

**Alyssa's POV**

I was drinking my coffee and waiting for Elena to get downstairs. No doubt she'd have a run in with Vicki, who had been up in Jeremy's bedroom all night. I heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen.

"Jenna! Are you aware of what's going on upstairs?" Elena said in a hushed tone.

"Uh-huh." Jenna smirked.

"And you have no objection?" Elena asked.

"He could be craftier about it, at least make an effort to sneak her in and out. Oh, and just so you know, I won't be home for dinner."

"Oh, so you're actually going to do it. You're gonna go out with Logan."

"I thought he was an ass?" I smirked, remembering her insults that she had thrown at the TV the other day.

"I'm going to show up and torture him. And have you heard from Stefan?" She asked Elena. I turned my gaze to Elena, curious about this myself.

"Not since he left that very vague message three days ago. "Hi, um, Elena, I, um, have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days."" Elena said in her generic guy voice. I laughed at her imitation of Stefan.

"Haven't you called him?" Jenna asked.

"Nope. Not going to either."

"And you're ok with everything?"

"No, I'm not ok with any of it. But I'm not gonna cry about it, either. You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly, I'm not gonna be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy."

"Ok, then."

"I'll be fine. C'mon Alyssa." Elena said, motioning me to follow her.

* * *

"The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who could pull off the bikini. I want, in your face, sexy. I mean, it's a fund raiser, for god's sake." Caroline babbled to a bunch of girls. Elena, Bonnie and I were leaning against the lockers away from Caroline and the others.

"Unbelievable. It's like nothing happened." Elena sighed. I frowned, remembering how nice Damon was toward me and how he turned out to be such a creep.

"She's in denial." Bonnie shrugged.

"Hey." Stefan walked up to us.

"Hey. You know, I gotta go. Be somewhere right now." Bonnie excused herself and walked away.

"I'm so sorry I haven't called." Stefan apologised, knowing he was in Elena's bad books.

"No worries. I'll live." Elena replied nonchalantly.

"I was dealing with Damon." My head snapped up when I heard Damon's name.

"And did you...deal with Damon?" Elena asked.

"Yes. Yeah."

"For four days?"

"I'm sorry for interrupting you're little fight but what exactly have you done with Damon?" I asked, I couldn't help but be slightly worried about Damon, even though I shouldn't be.

"I've dealt with him, Alyssa." Stefan said firmly. I glared at him slightly and walked away.

* * *

I was at the Grill playing pool with Matt.

"Vicki and Jer are together now?" Matt laughed.

"Yeah, it's kinda weird, right?" I said with a laugh of my own.

"You know, we haven't hung out in a while."

"I guess I thought it would feel weird for you." I shrugged.

"It would but, we're still friends Alyssa." Matt gave me a boyish smile, which I returned. Elena then walked up to us looking angry.

"Hey guys, um, have you seen Stefan?" Elena asked hesitantly, looking at me to avoid looking at Matt.

"Nope. If you want to kill some time, um, you can rack. Come on. We haven't played in forever. I'll let you break." He offered, seeing as our game was over. Elena checked her phone.

"How late is he?" Matt asked.

"Hitting the hour mark. Nothing's wrong though. Which means I'm not talking boy problems with you." Elena responded, shooting the cue ball.

"I'm going to leave you guys to it." I waved at them before walking off.

* * *

I walked into someone as I exited the Grill.

"Sorry." I apologised looking up. It was Stefan.

"Alyssa, I'm glad I ran into you." He gave me a slight smile.

"What is it?" I asked.

"What is Elena's favourite meal?" He asked randomly. I shot him a weird look.

"Chicken Parmesan. Why?" I enquired, quite intrigued.

"I want to make a meal for her, so she can get to know me." He told me. I grinned at him.

"Fine, come over tonight. I'll deal with Elena."

"Thank you, Alyssa." He nodded at me with a smile. I waved at him and went home.

* * *

I walked into Elena's room and found her pouting and hugging a teddy bear.

"Oh, stop pouting! I thought you weren't going to get all worked up about this." I smirked. She rolled her eyes at me and turned away.

"I'm miserable." She grumbled.

"Go downstairs and get something to eat. It'll make you feel better, I promise." I grinned knowingly. She sighed but smiled at me.

"Fine." She said, walking past me and down the stairs. I walked into my room and threw myself on my bed. I groaned in annoyance as I remembered the car wash that was happening tomorrow and got up to search my wardrobe for a swimsuit.

* * *

Elena and Stefan had just arrived at the sexy suds car wash. Caroline pulled me over to them, getting ready to explain the rules.

"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here. No, we are not." The blonde chanted as soon as we reached the couple. I rolled my eyes at Caroline behind her back causing Elena and Stefan to snicker. Caroline turned around and fixed her glare on me.

"No, we are not." Elena smirked.

"Oh, and the event is called sexy suds, you know." Caroline sneered.

* * *

Caroline had demanded that I help out with the money, so that was exactly what I was doing.

"How are you doing?" I asked Caroline, referring to the recent events.

"I don't want to talk about it." She replied curtly.

"C'mon Care, we're best friends! You can talk to me."

"I don't want to talk about it, Alyssa." She said sharply. Elena walked up to us.

"Hey, we're out of towels and those shimmy things." Elena chuckled. Caroline smiled up at my sister and stood up.

"We'll go get some more. Mind the money. C'mon Lyssa." She ordered. I got up and followed her through the halls of the school.

"Damon…" I heard her mutter. She suddenly started walking off in a trance. I ran after her.

"Care? Caroline? Where are you going?" I called. I grabbed her arm and lightly shook but she pushed me off of her.

* * *

I ended up following her to the Salvatore boarding house. What the hell? I had tried calling her name again, but Caroline continued to ignore me.

"Why are we here?" I asked, not really sure if Caroline would answer.

"Down here." She ushered me to follow her down into the cellar. Bit creepy…

"Caroline, help me. Caroline. Help me." I heard a voice groan. A very familiar voice…Damon?!

"Damon!" His name left my lips before I could stop it.

"Alyssa?" Damon murmured. We ran towards a cell and saw Damon on the floor looking very sickly.

"What happened?" I whispered.

"Oh my god! What is this? How did I know that you were here?" Caroline asked frantically.

"Because I wanted you to. Very, very badly. Let me out of here. Please." Damon begged.

"You bit me." Caroline stated.

"You liked it. Remember?" Damon replied. Ok, that's gross and wrong.

"Why do I keep remembering the same things, but in different ways?" Caroline shook her head.

"What's going on?" I asked, only to have it fall upon deaf ears.

"You remember what I want you to remember. And now that the vervain has passed out of your system, you won't remember what you're about to do." Damon told her. What's vervain?

"What am I about to do?" Caroline's voice was now shaking and she looked extremely vulnerable. Damon had suddenly appeared at the bars of the door causing me to jump slightly.

"You're gonna open the door. You're gonna open the door." He said in a compelling tone.

"Caroline, maybe we shou-" Caroline slowly unlocked the door. Someone ran down the stairs of the cellar.

"No! No! Get out of here. Run! Run!" A man shouted. Caroline and I started to run. I heard a sickening crack and made the mistake of glancing back. The man who had told us to run was now dead and Damon was running after us. I choked back a sob. I let out a small shriek as I tripped over the rug and fell to the floor. I heard Damon behind me and got up. However, I was too slow as Damon caught up with me, wrapped his arms around me, and held on to me tightly despite my frantic kicking. I heard Caroline gasp and looked up at her.

"Caroline, keep running!" I yelled. She stumbled back slightly, hesitant about leaving me.

"Go!" I screamed. She finally ran off. I started thrashing about again.

"Alyssa, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." Damon said calmly.

"You just killed someone! You seriously expect me to believe you?!" I spat at him.

"I would never hurt you." He whispered gently in my ear. Tears were now streaming down my face.

"Please let me go." I sobbed, too tired to try and escape.

"I can't do that."

"What are you?" I asked. He lifted me into his arms and placed me on a couch. He suddenly disappeared and I decided to escape. I silently walked towards the front door but I was stopped by Damon appearing in front of me. I let out a scream and jumped back.

"Don't be scared, Alyssa. Just sit back down and I'll explain what's going on." Damon ordered calmly. Seeing no other option and not wanting to anger him, I sat down quietly. Damon crouched down in front of me and I noticed his lips were a lot darker than usual. My eyes widened slightly as I realised that it was blood, or at least it looked like blood. He placed his hands on my cheeks, gently stroking them with his thumbs.

"I'm a vampire." He smiled a sadistic smile. My head started spinning and I knew I was shaking. That's impossible. Vampires don't exist. I pushed his hands off of my face and turned my head to the side, trying to hold in my sobs. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him.

"You see, Stefan has something of mine that I need and I want it back. Caroline will tell him that I have you and he will be forced to give it back to me." He explained.

"You said you wouldn't hurt me." I whispered.

"And I won't, but he doesn't know that." Damon smirked.

"What does he have?"

"My ring."

"What's so important about it?" I asked.

"It lets me walk about in daylight, stops me from burning." He told me.

"Vervain…you mentioned something about vervain." I stated.

"It's a herb that keeps a vampire from compelling you."

"Compelling me?"

"Making you do what ever I want." He chuckled.

"But I don't have any vervain." I frowned.

"Sure you do, in that bracelet of yours." He nodded his head towards my wrist. That's why Stefan gave it to me. I started fiddling with the charm. Strangely enough, I felt calmer than before. I trusted Damon enough not to hurt me, I just hope he doesn't suddenly change his mind about not hurting me.

"You seem calmer." He noted. I nodded.

"I think I believe you when you say you won't hurt me, I just want to know why." I looked up and met his gaze.

"You're different, special." He smirked.

"When are you going to let me go?" I sighed.

"When I get my ring back." He answered.

* * *

I had been sitting around the Salvatore boarding house for a while now. Damon had taken my phone away from me and was now reading through a journal of some sort. I let out a long sigh. I had been sat down pouting for hours. I looked out the window and noticed it had gotten dark.

"C'mon, I'm hungry." Damon got up and held out a hand. I ignored his hand and got up by myself. I froze in place when I realised what he meant. He was hungry. For blood. My face paled must have paled as he smirked slightly.

"Can't I just stay here?" I asked nervously.

"I need my leverage with me at all times, Alyssa." He smirked. Damon grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the house. No matter how much I fought back, he wouldn't let go.

"Damon please, I don't want to see it. I don't want to see you kill people, please. Let me go!" I cried. He sighed and turned around, once again placing his hands on my cheeks.

"Go to sleep." He ordered. I felt my eye lids grow heavy and felt myself falling. I felt myself being lifted up before completely closing my eyes.

**Next chapter! Enjoy :)**


	6. Lost Girls

**Alyssa's POV**

I let out a groan as I sat up. My bed made a crunching voice from beneath me. Wait a minute, since when did my bed crunch? And why was it so uncomfortable? That's when I remembered. Damon…it was all Damon.

"You're finally awake." A voice said from above me. I looked up at Damon.

"Where are we?" I asked him as I glanced around. There were dead bodies all over the place. The sight of them made me want to throw up.

"We're in the cemetery." He answered, searching one of the bodies for a phone. He finally found one and started dialling a number whilst he poured alcohol all over the bodies.

"I want my ring." Damon demanded. I'm guessing he called Stefan. I stood up, clutching onto a tree to steady myself.

"I'm at the sizzler. I had the buffet. Where's my ring?" Damon asked. I noticed that Damon was completely distracted so I tried to silently sneak away but Damon heard me and appeared in front of my. He held me by my waist, preventing me from escaping.

"No, what have you done? You're the one that locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done, whoever I've sucked dry is on you, buddy." Damon smirked. The smell of the burning bodies was making me feel nauseous.

"What, did you FedEx it to Rome?! Where is it? I want my ring, Stefan, or my next drink will be from Alyssa." Damon threatened.

"No." I whispered quietly, trying to get out of his arms.

"Here, why don't you talk to Alyssa." Damon said to Stefan, putting the phone to my ear.

"Stefan, help me!" I sobbed.

"Alyssa, you'll be ok. I'll help you, just hold on, ok?" Stefan assured me. Damon pulled the phone away.

"Just get it." Damon ordered, snapping the phone shut.

"Please just let me go, Damon. I won't tell anyone." I cried. He turned me around to face him.

"I can't do that, Alyssa. Now stay here while I deal with the bodies." He told me. I tried to move but I couldn't. I looked down at my wrist and realised that my bracelet was gone. So that's how Damon managed to get me to sleep. He walked over to one of the bodies and poured alcohol over it causing whoever it was to groan. How can they still be alive? I recognised the groan and looked closer at their face. It was Vicki.

"You just don't wanna die, do you?" Damon smirked as he crouched down next to her.

"Please don't kill her!" I begged. He looked at me and then back at Vicki and sighed.

"Alright then." He said before picking Vicki up.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"You mean where are _we_ going. We're going back to my place. C'mon Alyssa." Damon called. I felt my feet move without instruction and ended up following Damon back to the boarding house.

* * *

Damon placed Vicki on the couch and went to get a towel for her neck. He came back and placed it in her hand which he moved up to her neck. After taking care of Vicki he walked over to me. I had been standing as far away from him as possible.

"If you try to escape, I'll kill her." He warned me. I nodded.

"What are you going to do with us now?" I asked, almost instantly regretting it as I didn't want to know the answer.

"We are going to have fun, right after I call Stefan. Why don't you take a seat?" He suggested, guiding me to the other couch.

"Did you really mean it when you said you would drink my blood?" I asked.

"No, but like I said before, Stefan doesn't need to know that." Damon shrugged.

"You care about me, why?"

"You're not really in a position to question me."

"Stop avoiding the question." I ordered.

"I've already told you, you're special." He finally answered.

"What does that even mean?!" I was getting extremely frustrated. He chuckled at my expression.

"I'm going to call my brother. Make sure she doesn't get blood on the couch." Damon said referring to Vicki.

"Whatever." I looked away with a pout on my face.

"Where are you, Stefan? I'm trapped at the house, and I'm getting really bored and really impatient, and I don't do bored and impatient. Bring me my ring. Damn it." Damon said angrily. He hung up and put the phone down. He then walked over to Vicki and pulled the towel away from her neck.

"I got you good, didn't I?" He smirked as he examined her neck. She groaned slightly.

"Well, you're not gonna be any fun today. I'm so gonna regret this." Damon groaned to himself.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, standing up. Damon bit into his wrist and put it to Vicki's mouth. She struggled but eventually gave in.

"Drink up. Drink it up. Don't drip. There you go. Good girl. That's it." Damon said soothingly.

"What are you doing?!" I screamed, running over and tugging Damon's arm away from Vicki.

"I'm healing her, Alyssa." He told me calmly.

"You just made her drink your blood!"

"Look at her neck." He grabbed my hand and pulled me so that I was standing right in front of Vicki. I looked at her neck and found that the wound was completely gone.

"How?" I whispered.

"Vampire blood heals people." He informed me.

"Will it turn her into a vampire?" I asked.

"No, you have to die with vampire blood in your system. So you see, she's fine." He explained. Vicki started to stir and eventually woke up. She sat up and put her hand to her head.

"Ugh, I stink." She complained. Really? After everything that happened she's complaining that she smells?

"Feel free to take a shower." Damon offered with a smirk.

"Thanks." Vicki replied and ran upstairs.

"She's seriously going to accept the offer to shower in a stranger's house?" I muttered in disbelief.

"She probably doesn't really know what's going on." Damon shrugged.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked Damon.

"You just did." He smirked, sitting down on the couch, motioning me to join him. I hesitantly went and sat by him.

"When were you…turned into a vampire?" I asked, struggling to find the right words.

"In 1864." Damon answered, closely examining my face for my reaction. I licked my lips nervously and took a deep breath.

"When did you meet Katherine?" My voice shook slightly.

"In 1864." He answered again, his eyes still watching me.

"Was she…?"

"A vampire? Yes. She turned us actually."

"You said she died in a fire." I frowned.

"She did."

"The church fire? In class Stefan mentioned something about a church fire in 1864." I nodded to myself, starting to piece things together.

"That's the one." Damon smirked, knowing I had figured it out.

"The civilians were vampires." I said more to myself than Damon.

"And we have a winner." Damon chuckled.

"Can I have my bracelet back please?" I asked, remembering that he had taken it.

"Since you asked so nicely, yes you can." He smiled, placing my bracelet back around my wrist.

"I'm surprised you're actually trusting me." I admitted.

"I never wanted to compel you, Alyssa, but I had to make sure you didn't run off." Damon told me. He went over to the stereo and put some music on.

"So you just want to dance? That's what we're doing?" I enquired.

"Yep." He replied, pulling me off of the couch and spinning me around. I placed the hand that he wasn't holding on his shoulder to avoid falling. He dipped me down and held me there, looking into my eyes.

"Oh, man. That shower was so great. What did you give me?" Vicki asked as she bounded down the stairs and stared at her neck in the mirror. Damon pulled me up, holding me in place and looked at Vicki, who was wearing a tank top and underwear.

"Some blood. You loved it." He answered.

"I did? Wait. I'm confused. How did we get here?" Vicki tilted her head.

"We met in the woods. You were drunk. I attacked you. Then I killed all of your friends and brought you here, gave you same blood. You loved it. And now we're gonna party till the sun goes down." Damon compelled her.

"Ok. Um, but first, can I have another hit? That blood was so good." I almost gagged at that. Damon let me go and I walked over to the couch, not wanting to be apart of what was going to happen next.

"Only if I can." He smirked, biting his wrist and giving to Vicki whilst he drank from her wrist.

"Ugh, that's gross." I scoffed and looked away. They finally pulled away.

"Jealous?" Damon snickered.

"More like disgusted." I replied snidely. He chuckled and walked over to me.

"Don't be like that, we were just starting to have fun." He smirked and pulled me into his arms. I pushed him away.

"No, we weren't." I said in a firm tone.

"C'mon Alyssa, dance with me. You know you want to." Damon taunted. Vicki turned the music up louder as Damon, once again, span me around. I sighed but danced with him anyway. It was better than sitting around watching the two of them have fun. After all, I am stuck here so I may as well make the most of it!

* * *

We had been dancing for a while now and Damon had ended up drunk with his shirt undone.

"I am so over Tyler, so over him. I knew from the beginning that I was only a piece of ass to him, but I thought maybe if he got to know me better, he might see something more. But no. Now, Jeremy, on the other hand, that's all he's ever seen in me is something more, and I like that." Vicki ranted as she danced around and rolled on the floor. Is she really going to talk about my brother with me?

"Jeremy, huh? Alyssa's brother?" Damon smirked at me.

"Yeah. So, Elena used to date my brother, and they were always together, so Jeremy would always be hanging around and crushing on me and- Hey, this isn't weird for you is it Alyssa?" Vicki asked, looking at me.

"Oh no, not at all…" I trailed off.

"Hey, why don't you have a girlfriend? You're, like, totally cool and so hot." Vicki asked Damon, dancing wildly.

"I know." Damon replied arrogantly, directing his gaze at me. I scoffed at his predictable answer.

"Don't you wanna be in love?" Vicki asked.

"I've been in love. It's painful and pointless and overrated." Damon shrugged.

"Except when it isn't."

"No more talking. Let's dance!" Damon shouted, picking me up by my waist and spinning me around causing me to shriek. He put me down and disappeared, reappearing up on one on of the banisters. Damon jumped down and led us upstairs into what I'm guessing was Stefan's room. He and Vicki started trashing the room.

"Damon, you shouldn't be doing this!" I told him.

"Oh, loosen up Alyssa! I thought Elena was the uptight one!" Vicki grinned as she jumped on Stefan's bed. I shook my head and leaned against a wall. I felt Damon's gaze on me and glanced at him. He was holding a small piece of card in his hand. I sighed and went downstairs. I sat on couch and pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my head against them. I heard Vicki and Damon come downstairs as the song changed to a slow one. They started slow dancing.

"My mom spends most of her time in Virginia beach with Pete. He drives trucks. I don't remember my dad, but from what I gather, he's not worth remembering." Vicki sobbed.

"Your life is so pathetic." Damon commented.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm the screwed-up one. Matt's got it so easy. He's the golden boy. I mean, he's gonna get a football scholarship and marry Elena and have a lawn mower and some babies, and when I think of my future, I just come up blank." Vicki cried.

"You are so damaged." Damon said, pulling away to look at her.

"Yep." Vicki nodded.

"I mean, you don't have one hint of self-esteem."

"Nope, none." Vicki shook her head. Damon let out a deep sigh and placed his forehead against hers.

"I think I know what can help you." He told her. I started to stand up, worrying about what he might do.

"So what's that?" Vicki asked.

"Death." Damon said simply. He snapped her neck and she fell to the ground dead.

"NO, VICKI!" I screamed as I ran over to her. Damon grabbed and stopped me from reaching her.

"Shh, she's going to be fine." He whispered in my ear. I turned around to face him with tears in my eyes.

"You said you wouldn't kill her! I didn't try to escape and yet you killed her anyway." I cried. He grabbed my face and wiped away my tears.

"Do you remember what I told you about vampire blood. She died with it in her system, so she'll be fine." He told me.

"You turned her…" I whispered.

"Yeah, I did. She needed it. She was miserable, her life had no meaning."

"And you think turning her into a vampire will fix that?!"

"Yes, Alyssa, I do." He answered calmly. I sighed and walked over to the couch, waiting for Vicki to wake up. Damon walked over to the sliver of light that was peaking through the curtains and put his hand in the sunlight. His hand burned and steam came off of it. I shot up and ran over to him, taking his hand and examining it.

"Oh my god, are you crazy? Why would you do that?" I hissed.

"Look who cares." He smirked at me. I realised that, even though he had killed a lot of people today and that he's a vampire, I still cared about Damon.

"You're right, I do care because that's what makes me human. Just don't go in the sun until you get you ring back." I told him.

"Ok." Damon said. We heard a groan and looked over to find Vicki waking up.

"Vicki-" I started walking over to her but was pulled back by Damon.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. She'll be craving blood." He warned.

"What happened? We were dancing, and then-" Vicki sat up, looking around extremely confused.

"Then I killed you." Damon's "I don't care about anything" attitude was back.

"What?" Vicki asked, looking at Damon as if he were insane. I don't blame her.

"You're dead." Damon stated.

"I'm dead?" Vicki repeated.

"Yeah, well, let's not make a big deal out of it. You drank my blood, I killed you, and now you have to feed in order to complete the process." Damon explained.

"You're wasted." Vicki got up and grabbed her stuff.

"You don't wanna be out there all alone. You're about to get really freaky." Damon told her, standing in her way.

"Ok, I had a really good time. I just wanna go home." Vicki groaned.

"You're gonna start craving blood, and until you get it, you're gonna feel very out of it. You have to be careful."

"Come on, move." She shoved Damon out of the way.

"See? You're already starting to fall apart." Damon smirked.

"And I'm going home now." Vicki said.

"Ok, fine. I'm just warning you. Actually, you know what? You should go. In fact, if I were you, I would stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house." Damon told her.

"What?! No! Vicki you can't." I exclaimed.

"Whatever." She muttered as she left.

"If you see Stefan, tell him to call me." Damon called after her. I turned to Damon and went to slap him but he caught my hand.

"Why did you do that? She could hurt Jeremy!" I yelled at him.

"Don't do this, it's not gonna end well." He warned me, referring to the fact that I tried to hit him.

"Damon, why did you put my brother in danger?"

"To make sure I get my ring back."

"Is that all you care about? Ugh, you know what? I don't care. I'm leaving." I ripped my arm out of his grip and went to leave. Damon appeared in front of me.

"You're not leaving." He told me.

"My brother is in danger." I growled at him.

"He'll be fine." Damon said, waving me off.

"Why did you do this Damon? Jeremy's my brother." I asked quietly.

"Look, let's get one thing straight. Just because I haven't hurt you yet and I did as you asked before does not mean that you have any power over me." Damon hissed at me.

"What is wrong with you?! You killed your relative, you killed a bunch of people and you turned someone into a vampire!"

"You can judge me all you like but that girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her." Damon said.

"Did you thank Katherine?" I shot back. I clearly caught him off guard as it took him a while to reply.

"If I'd had the chance to then yes, yes I would." He answered.

* * *

I spent the rest of the day sitting quietly on the couch.

"Let's go." Damon said. I snapped my head up to look at him.

"Where?" I asked.

"I'm taking you home." He replied.

"Really?" I whispered. He nodded. A small smile graced my lips.

* * *

We walked up to my front door.

"Thank you for letting me go." I gave him a slight smile.

"It's dark now, I can look for Stefan myself." He shrugged.

"You know, I don't agree with what you did and I'm still mad about you sending Vicki here, but there's clearly still some good in you."

"Oh yeah? And what makes you say that?"

"Because you didn't hurt me, not once. That and you gave me my bracelet when I asked for it." I explained.

"You should get inside. Good night Alyssa." Damon said before walking off. I sighed and walked inside.

"I'm home!" I called out. Elena came rushing through the hall and wrapped her arms around me in a thighs hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe! I was so worried. I told Aunt Jenna that you were sleeping round a friend's house." Elena said quickly.

"I'm ok, I'm fine! Thank you for covering for me. How's Jeremy? Is he safe?" I asked, worried about my brother.

"He's fine." She answered.

"Good." I smiled. There was a knock on the door.

"That's Stefan." Elena informed me.

"I'll leave you two to it." I gave her shoulder a squeeze and walked into the kitchen. Jeremy was putting some dishes away.

"Hey." I greeted him.

"Hey." He replied.

"How's Vicki?" I asked.

"I don't know, she just walked out. They're all looking for her. I should be out there, Lyss." He frowned.

"No, you shouldn't be. She'll be fine." I told him, pulling him into a hug. I heard the front door shut and a few sobs. I sighed and pulled away from Jeremy.

"Excuse me." I murmured. I ran into the hallway and found Elena crying her eyes out on the floor. I sat down by her and brought her into my arms.

"Vicki completed the transition…and I broke up with Stefan." She cried into my shoulder.

"It's going to be ok, Elena. It's going to be ok." I whispered gently, stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her down. Our lives are so screwed up.

* * *

**Here's the next chapter guys!**


	7. Haunted

**Alyssa's POV**

I woke up and stretched out, happy to be in my own bed. Yesterday's memories came flooding back. I groaned as I remembered that Vicki was a vampire. I got up and walked to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Elena was putting toothpaste on her tooth brush whilst Jeremy was walking out.

"Morning guys." I greeted my siblings. That earned a quick wave from Elena and a nod from Jeremy.

"You're up early. Where are you going?" Elena asked Jeremy, suspicion laced in her tone.

"Police station. They're organising the search party for Vicki, so…" Jeremy trailed off.

"Wait. Shouldn't you be going to school?"

"What? You're kidding me, right?" Jeremy scoffed.

"You shouldn't skip school. If they find her, we'll know. That's what phones are for." Elena answered.

"Yeah, your lips keep moving. I don't know why." Jeremy glared at Elena.

"Ouch." I snickered, causing Elena to push me.

* * *

Elena and I decided to go and see how Vicki was doing. I pulled on the bell and Damon answered the door.

"Is Stefan here?" Elena asked uncomfortably.

"Yep!" Damon smirked.

"Where is he?" She demanded.

"And good morning to you, little miss " I'm on a mission"." Damon joked. A smile made it's way to my lips.

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?"

"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib?" I let out a laugh at this, resulting in Elena glaring at me. I held my hands up in defence.

"If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead." Elena said smugly.

"Yes, you would." Damon replied.

"But I'm not."

"Yet."

"Where is Stefan?" Elena demanded again.

"He's upstairs singing "the rain in Spain". Knock yourself out." He smirked as Elena pushed past him.

"Jeremy's safe." I told him.

"Oh thank god, now I can sleep at night." Damon said in a snarky tone.

"You don't have to be so snarky about it. I'm not angry anymore, by the way. The way I see it, as long as Jeremy's safe and Vicki is being dealt with, there's nothing to worry about." I shrugged.

"Good to know." He smirked.

"I'm going to check on Vicki." I said, pointing towards the stairs.

"Bye." He said before walking out of the house.

I walked up the stairs and found Stefan lecturing Vicki.

"Coffee is our friend. It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins, and it warms our body so we're not so cold to the touch." Stefan explained.

"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?" Vicki asked.

"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge and fight it on a daily basis one day at time."

"Oh god! Don't start with that whole 12 steps thing. School counsellor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me."

"It can work. It's your choice, Vicki."

"So you've never tasted human blood?" Vicki wondered.

"Not in a long time." Stefan shook his head.

"How long?"

"Years and years. I'm not proud of my past behaviour."

"Does this sketchy feeling ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover. This daylight thing is a bitch. I need more blood. Where's your bathroom ? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead." Vicki ranted as she stormed off.

"I'm going to, uh...I'm gonna get her some more. All right. I'll be quick." Stefan excused himself and walked out of the room. Vicki walked back in the room, sighing in annoyance.

"False alarm. My body's feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird." Vicki whined.

"Who are you calling?" Elena asked Vicki.

"Jeremy." Vicki answered.

"No, Vicki you can't see Jeremy anymore, it's too dangerous. You could lose control." I warned her.

"Oh come on don't you start. I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see." Vicki rolled her eyes at me.

"Even though you could hurt him?" Elena asked.

"I would never hurt Jeremy." Vicki told us.

"I know you think that but we can't take that risk. You're gonna have to let Jeremy go now."

"Oh really? And how long have you been preparing the "you're not good enough " speech? I'm assuming it predates the whole vampire thing." Vicki hissed.

"All I am saying is Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this. I mean it, Vicki." Elena said as Vicki suddenly pinned her against a wall, choking her.

"Oh my god, Elena!" I shouted. I ran over to Vicki and tried to pull her off but she shoved me away.

"Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitch. You had my brother whipped for 15 years. 15 years and then you dumped him. When I look at you that is all I see, just so you know. And I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy, because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little head off. You got it?" Vicki growled. She dropped Elena to the floor. I ran over to my sister, who was coughing violently and glared at Vicki as she walked out of the room.

"C'mon, let's get outside." I pulled Elena out of the front door. Stefan rushed out after us.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"She threatened me." Elena whispered shakily.

"She's on edge. Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin. And then when you throw in her other issues…" Stefan explained.

"How long before it settles? Hours? Days? Weeks?"

"There's no rule book."

"Well, how long before you learned to control it?"

"A while, But I didn't have anybody helping me. I had to do it on my own. The thing is it's hard to resist certain people especially when you're new, it's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire...it can all blur into one urge, hunger." Stefan admitted.

"What does that mean?" I asked, confused about what he was saying.

"It means that Jeremy can't see her, not now. She might not be able to resist him, and she could hurt him." Tell us something we don't know.

"Or worse." Elena sighed.

"I'm not gonna let anybody get hurt." Stefan assured us.

"We need to get going."

"Elena…"

"Please Stefan. There's only so much I can take." She said before walking off.

"Just hang in there, ok Stefan? It's hard to get used to." I told him.

* * *

That night Jeremy was calling Vicki.

"You gotta call me, Vick. I don't get it. What's going on with you? Just...just call me please." He sighed as he hung up.

"Hey. So, um, do you wanna hang out tonight? We could go to the, uh, Halloween thing at school. Could be fun!" Elena suggested, trying and failing to sound excited and energetic. She gave me a look.

"Yeah, I mean, what's more fun than a halloween party at school." I cheered sarcastically. Elena rolled her eyes at me. Jeremy let out a small chuckle.

"Cool. Sure. Sounds uh...sounds fun. Can't wait." He replied, sounding just as sarcastic as me.

"I know you're upset about Vicki. I heard she called Matt. But you can't be with her. She needs to get better. The best thing you can do for her is let her go." Elena told him gently. He was never going to go for that.

"What does that even mean, "let her go"? Oh, okay, sure. Since we're such experts on letting people go, right?" Jeremy growled at her.

"What she means is, it's for the best. Jer, she's in a bad place right now, and you yourself need to…pick yourself up again." I explained, choosing my words wisely.

"Look, for months after mom and dad died, I felt like crap, like "nothing really even mattered" crap. Now all of a sudden, I get these moments and things started to feel just a little bit better, and Vicki was in every single of 'em. So you may not see it, but trust me. Keeping me away from her is not for the best." Jeremy spat at us and stormed off.

"I have a bad feeling about tonight." I stated.

"Yeah well, let's just _try_ and have fun." Elena responded.

"Easier said than done." I got up and walked upstairs to put on my genie costume from last year.

* * *

We walked into the halloween party, which was covered in bright flashy lights that really annoyed the hell out of me. Jeremy scared a few kids which made me laugh and made Elena smack his arm.

"Oh Elena, loosen up! We're meant to be having fun, remember?" I grinned at my twin. Matt came up to us and looked over our costumes.

"You guys went with last year's costume too, huh?" He chuckled.

"Yeah. We didn't know that we were coming till an hour ago." Elena let out her own chuckle. I gasped.

"Did Elena Gilbert just laugh? I'm shocked!" I teased.

"Oh shut up!" She smiled at me and gave me a nudge.

"And you're going as...you?" Matt guessed, referring to Jeremy's hoodie. Jeremy grunted and walked off.

"He's not talking to us right now. We got into fight." Elena explained our brother's bad mood.

"Yeah, I got into it with Vick too, when she got home. I'm trying not to smother her tonight, but part of me didn't wanna let her out of my sight." Did he just say Vicki?

"She's here?" I asked, quite alarmed by this.

"Yeah, you can't miss her. She's a vampire." Oh, how ironic.

"Where did Jeremy go?" Elena looked around frantically.

"Elena, calm down. We're going to find him." I grabbed her shoulders and made her stand still. She nodded.

"What's the matter?" Asked a clueless Matt.

"We've gotta find him." I told him as Elena and I split up.

* * *

I searched the party for Jeremy, but every guy in a hood I thought was Jeremy wasn't him. I was getting extremely worried now. I noticed Damon standing in the middle of the party and walked over to him.

"Damon!" I called out. He heard me call his name and made his way towards me.

"Yes, Alyssa?" He answered with a smirk which disappeared once he saw the look of worry on my face.

"Have you seen Jeremy? I can't find him and Vicki's here! Oh my god, what if she gets to him? I can't lose him, Damon. I have to find him." My words were rushed and I stumbled over a few of them but by now I was getting frantic and tears were threatening to fall. Damon grabbed my face in his hands.

"Alyssa, shh. It's ok, we'll find him, calm done." Damon said soothingly. I nodded and watched as he focused on the noise around him.

"Can you hear them?" I whispered.

"Yeah, c'mon they're this way." He told me, taking my hand and leading me to them.

* * *

When we found them Elena and Jeremy were running inside.

"Go with them, I'll find Vicki." Damon ode red as he gently pushed me in the direction of my siblings. I did as I was told and started pushing Elena and Jeremy towards the door.

"Alyssa-" Elena started.

"Not now!" I told her as she opened the door. Vicki suddenly appeared and pushed Jeremy out of the way. She grabbed me and bit down onto my neck. I screamed in agony which alerted Damon, who pushed Vicki off of me. I fell into Damon's arms sobbing and clutching my neck. Stefan had grabbed a piece of wood and stabbed it through Vicki's heart. She became grey and veins started to appear all over her body.

"Oh my god, Vicki!" I heard my brother yell. Stefan held him back.

"Get him out of here!" Elena shouted at Stefan as she ran over to Vicki's body. Damon bit into his wrist and held it up to me.

"You need to drink, Alyssa." He whispered into my ear. I accepted his wrist and let the metallic tasting substance flow down my throat. I pulled away and felt my neck, which had completely healed. Damon guided me over to Elena.

"You should go. I got this." He told us.

"You did this. This is your fault." Elena accused him.

"Elena, don't…"

"No, Alyssa. People die around you, Damon. How can you act like it doesn't matter? It matters, and you know it." She cried.

"You need to leave." Damon's voice had grown firm and cold. I grabbed Elena's arm and guided her away.

* * *

"Alyssa, Elena! Hey, have you seen…whoa, what happened?" Matt asked, seeing the blood on Elena's costume and my neck.

"Nothing. Some idiot with some fake blood got us. We're gonna go home now." Elena's voice shook and I know she felt insanely guilty for lying.

"I…I can't find Vicki. She totally bailed on me."

"We don't know where she is."

"Is this what I'm in for, a lifetime of worrying about her?"

"You're a good brother, Matt." I assured him.

"Yeah, Maybe she went home." He gave us a weak smile.

"Maybe." Elena whispered.

"Ok." Matt said as he walked off. We got into Elena's car and she began hitting the steering wheel. I let the tears fall down my face as Elena finally started driving home.

* * *

"Where is he?" I demanded as soon as we got back.

"Inside." Stefan answered. I ran inside and up the stairs to Jeremy's room. He was sat on his bed, hugging his knees. I heard Elena enter his room behind me. We walked over to him and sat in front of him.

"Do you understand what happened tonight?" Elena asked calmly.

"No. I don't understand. I mean, I know what I saw, but...I don't understand." Jeremy mumbled, he was confused.

"She was going to kill me." I told him.

"Now she's dead. Vicki's dead." Jeremy started crying.

"I'm so sorry, Jer." I whispered as I pulled him into his eyes.

"Make it stop. It hurts." He sobbed.

"Shh, shh, shh, shh. It's ok. it's ok." Elena cooed as she rubbed his back.

"Why does everybody have to die on me?" That broke my heart. He buried his face into my shoulder and held onto me tightly, as if I might disappear. Elena and I shared a look. She got up and went downstairs.

Damon walked into Jeremy's room soon after.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him quietly.

"I'm here to talk with Jeremy." He told me. He sat down next to me and looked at Jeremy.

"Vicki's left town and she's not coming back. You won't look for her or worry about her. You're gonna miss her, but you know it's for the best. You going to get your life back on track. You're not going to do drugs anymore and your going to drink less. You'll focus more on your school work and make your life better." Damon said in a compelling tone. He got up and walked out. I realised what he had just done and followed him out into the hallway.

"You compelled him?!" I hissed.

"Your sister asked me too." He replied.

"It's not her choice to make." I stated.

"Listen Alyssa, he's going to have a better life and he's not going to remember anything from tonight. I took away his suffering…and I can take away yours, if you'd like." Damon explained. I thought about it for a second and finally shook my head.

"I can't. I mean, I would love to forget what I saw tonight but I can't. I can't forget everything that's happened. I don't want to forget the time I spent with you because when I was dancing around and not caring about anything, I felt like myself again…and I don't want to lose that." I glanced up at him. I took a step towards him.

"I don't want to forget you, Damon." I whispered as I wrapped my arms around waist. I felt him wrap his arms around me and rest his head on top of mine.

"I understand." He whispered back.

**Just a quick update! Enjoy :)**


	8. 162 Candles

**Alyssa's POV**

I was sat in Sheriff Forbes' office being questioned about Vicki's disappearance.

"Where did Vicki say she was going?" She asked me.

"She didn't." I answered.

"Did she tell her brother where she was going?"

"No, she only told Jeremy that she was leaving town."

"Matt said that Stefan Salvatore came to their house. What was he doing there?"

"Elena asked Stefan to help. She thought that, by helping Vicki, he was helping our brother."

"Any signs of aggression or violence?"

"No." I shook my head.

"So you believe Vicki really has left town?"

"Yes." I said confidently.

I met up with Elena, Aunt Jenna and Jeremy on the way out.

"You guys alright?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah."

"I guess."

"I just want to go home." We all said at the same time. We walked out of the police station and saw Stefan waiting for us.

"We'll meet you guys at the car." Elena told Jeremy and Jenna.

"Ok." Jenna replied, walking off with Jeremy.

"You ok?" Stefan asked us.

"We're fine." I gave him a brief smile, feeling guilty about lying.

"I don't think the Sheriff suspected anything. Jeremy had no memory at all. All he knew was what Damon made him know." Elena said, slightly weirded out by Jeremy having no memory of what happened.

"Thank you." Stefan said, grateful that we didn't tell anyone about him and Damon. Elena sighed.

"I can't do this, Stefan. Every time I look at Matt or Jeremy, all I think is that Vicki is never gonna come back. And they'll never know why. Around you people get hurt and people die. I can't I just...it's just too much…" She told Stefan.

"Why don't we go somewhere and talk about it." Stefan suggested.

"No, Stefan you have to stay away from me." Elena said before walking off.

"Just give her some time Stefan." I gave his shoulder a quick squeeze before going after Elena.

* * *

Elena and Jenna had thrown themselves on the couch whilst I went and sat at the table with Jeremy, who was actually doing school work…did I just walk into a parallel universe? Oh that's right, Damon compelled Jeremy to behave.

"You're wallowing." I heard Jenna accuse Elena.

"So are you." Elena retaliated back.

"My wallow is legitimate. I was dumped." Jenna defended herself.

"Yeah. Well Logan's a jerk." Elena sighed.

"Says the one who said he was cute." I scoffed which earned me a glare.

"You didn't get a brush-off e-mail say: "I'm leaving town. See ya."" Jenna was now the one sighing.

"Wanna keep it down over there?" Said an annoyed Jeremy.

"Why? What are you doing?" Jenna asked suspiciously.

"He's doing homework! It's weird, right?" I smirked at Elena and Jenna's shocked faces.

"Since when do you do homework?" Elena asked with a raised brow.

"I gotta finish this. I'm way behind and I have a quiz tomorrow so…" Jeremy trailed off as a signal for them to shut up.

"What do you think? Alien?" Elena whispered not so subtly.

"Some sort of replicant." Jenna replied. I stifled a laugh as I saw Jeremy looking rather irate.

"He can hear you." Jeremy snapped.

"C'mon Lena, let's go upstairs." I dragged my twin off of the couch and upstairs to her room.

* * *

We had spent most of the morning led in Elena's bed.

"You up?" A voice said. I recognised it as Bonnie's voice.

"No." Elena mumbled. Bonnie walked over and tried to pull the cover off of our heads.

"No, no!" Elena and I whined.

"Why haven't you called me back?" Bonnie asked.

"Sorry." We grumbled in sync.

"Are you gonna stay in there forever?"

"Yes, because I intend to sleep forever." I pouted. Bonnie shook her head at me.

"Pretty much." Elena sighed.

"Move over." Bonnie ordered. I moved into the middle of the bed, allowing Bonnie to slide in next to me.

"I'm officially worried. What's going on?" She asked.

"You're interrupting my sleeping time." I stuck my tongue out at her. She tutted at me.

"Elena, what's up with you?"

"I'm tired of thinking...of talking I…" Elena trailed off.

"Can I get a one-line version so I can at least pretend to be helpful?"

"Stefan and I broke up." Elena frowned.

"I'm so sorry. Are you ok? Right stupid question. I know I've been kind of MIA when you need me the most. I suck." Bonnie apologised.

"You wanna make it up to me. Get my mind off of it." Elena demanded. Bonnie looked as though she was weighing out the pros and cons for something.

"Just remember you asked for it." Bonnie warned.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I muttered to Elena as Bonnie closed the window and grabbed a pillow. She ripped the pillow open and emptied out all of the feathers onto the bed.

"Hey!" Elena protested.

"Be patient." Bonnie scorned her.

"Ok." Elena backed off.

"I need to swear you to secrecy."

"Bad timing Bonnie!" I groaned.

"It's kind of a bad week for that kind of stuff." Elena stressed.

"Swear, 'cause I'm not supposed to be showing you this." Bonnie demanded. Elena and I shared a look.

"Ok, I swear." Elena said. Bonnie looked at me.

"Alright, I swear." I shrugged.

"There's no windows open, right?" Bonnie questioned us. Kinda weird…

"Right."

"There's no fan. No air conditioning."

"None. What are you doing?" Elena wondered.

"Grams just showed me this. You're gonna love it. You ready?" Bonnie asked excitedly.

"Can you please tell us what's going on?" I pleaded, extremely confused about why she ripped a pillow into and started questioning us on air con and windows. Bonnie focused on a feather and made it levitate using her hand. Both mine and Elena's jaws dropped open as we stared at the feather in absolute amazement. We were then surrounded by all of feathers. A huge smile made it's way to my face.

"This is incredible." I breathed out.

"It's true you guys. Everything my Grams told me. It's impossible and it's true. I'm a witch." Bonnie giggled.

"We believe you." Elena grinned. Bonnie let the feathers drop and smiled at Elena and I.

"It's weird huh? After all this time, joking about being psychic. I really am a witch. You don't think I'm a freak now, do you?" Bonnie panicked.

"Of course not! I think it's amazing. I know I said before that I didn't want to be a witch but now…I kinda want to!" I laughed.

"Bonnie I just...don't understand though. If your Grams asked you to keep all this a secret, why did you tell us?" Elena asked, tilting her head to one side.

"You're my best friends. I can't keep secrets from you." Bonnie shrugged. And cue extreme guilt.

* * *

After Bonnie left Elena turned to me with a frown.

"We need to talk to Stefan." She stated.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because we need to tell Bonnie and we should let Stefan know." She told me.

"Ok, let's go."

"Right now?"

"That's what you wanted wasn't it?"

"Uh, well, I meant later. It was just this morning that I told him to stay away from me."

"I feel guilty for keeping it from her, let's not prolong it." I ordered, pushing her towards the door.

"Alright, alright."

* * *

We drove up to the Salvatore Boarding House. I heard Elena take a deep breath as she got out of the car. I followed her to the door and waited as she pulled on the bell.

"It's open! Come on in." A female voice called from the inside. Who the hell was that? We walked in and found a blonde haired girl in nothing but a towel. I could tell that Elena was as shocked as I was. The blonde's eyes widened.

"Oh my god! How...How...Who?" She stuttered.

"I'm Elena and this is Alyssa. Who are you?" Elena asked with a frown.

"Lexi, a friend of Stefan's." Lexi replied. I saw a hurt look cross Elena's face.

"Is he here?" She asked.

"He's in the shower. Do you want to wait?" Lexi informed us. Stefan's in the shower and she's in a towel…suspicious.

"No." Elena quickly refused.

"I'll tell him you stopped by." Lexi smiled at us.

"That's ok." Elena became very quiet and quickly rushed past me.

"Um, excuse me." I excused myself and ran after Elena.

"Elena!" I called as she got in the car. I climbed into the passenger seat and found my sister trying not to cry.

"Look, I have to say that did seem kinda suspicious, but maybe you shouldn't be to quick to judge. She could just be a friend staying round." I said gently.

"Doesn't matter. I told him to stay away from me, so it's fine." She whispered.

* * *

I was laying on my bed staring up at the ceiling when my phone went off.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Party at the Grill! You're coming, so don't even try to get out of it." Caroline warned.

"Ok, I'll be there." I rolled my eyes.

"Good, see ya." She said cheerfully before hanging up. I decided that I couldn't be bothered to change clothes. I walked downstairs and found Elena sulking on the couch.

"I'm going to the Grill for Caroline's party, are you coming?" I asked my pouting twin.

"No, I'm just going to stay in."

"And feel sorry for yourself? As you wish." I gave her a quick wave and left.

I entered the Grill and went over to the bar.

"Just a coke please." I ordered. The barman went to get my drink.

"Want me to get you something stronger?" A voice offered. I turned around and came face to face with Damon.

"No thanks. I don't need alcohol to enjoy myself." I replied coolly.

"Well, looks like I don't need it now either." He smirked at me.

"What are you doing here? I didn't think this would be your kind of thing."

"It's not, but you know Caroline, she won't take no for an answer." Damon shrugged.

"You need to leave her alone, Damon. You've had your fun, now stay away from her." I told him.

"Why? So I can focus all my attention on you? Relax, all I want is my necklace." He grinned at me.

"What necklace?" I asked.

"Your friend Bonnie has it. It's mine and I want it back."

"Is it really yours?"

"Yes." He answered. I decided to change the subject.

"Who's Lexi?" I asked.

"How do you know about Lexi?" Damon asked in a suspicious tone.

"Elena and I went round yours to speak to Stefan and ended up meeting Lexi. We didn't get to talk to Stefan because he was in the shower. Lexi was in a towel, so I'm basically asking you if she's really just a friend of Stefan's." I explained.

"Ah, so you're looking for information on Lexi so that you can report back to Elena." Damon stated.

"No, not exactly. Elena doesn't know I'm asking you this. She's upset about the whole situation and I just want to clear this whole mess up. So, will you tell me?" I asked hopefully.

"She's a _very _old friend of Stefan's. His best friend, actually. Nothing more, nothing less." He finally answered.

"Oh thank god. Wait, she's a vampire? Huh, I thought he was just making a point to move on." I admitted.

"Look who just showed up." Damon nodded in the direction of the door. I turned around and saw Elena walk in. An arm wrapped itself around my waist and guided me towards my sister.

"Stefan smiles. Alert the media." Damon joked as we stood by Elena, who had been gazing longingly at Stefan, who was playing pool with Lexi.

"You haven't given him a lot of reasons to be happy lately." She glared at him.

"Oh, you're right. Poor Stefan persecuted throughout eternity by his depraved brother; does it get tiring being so righteous?" Damon snapped.

"Damon don't…" I warned him but he ignored me.

"It flares up in the presence of psychopaths." Elena sneered at Damon.

"Ouch! Well, consider this psychopath's feelings get hurt." Damon placed a hand of his heart.

"What did you do to our brother?" Elena asked.

"I'm gonna need a less vague question."

"When you did what you did to Jeremy's memory of Vicki, what else did you do to him?"

"You asked me to take away his memory of fangs and all the bad stuff. You wanted me to take away his suffering."

"But he's acting different. He seems okay with everything and a little too okay. I mean he's studying; he's not doing drugs; he's not drinking; are you sure you didn't do something else?"

"He took away his suffering, Elena." I assured her. She looked at me and gave me a reluctant nod.

"Now, if you'll excuse me." Damon smirked and placed a kiss on my cheek before walking off.

"Why are you acting so friendly towards him? He's not a nice person, Alyssa. You need to stay away from him." Elena said as soon as he was gone.

"Woah, ok. First of all, he acts that way towards me, not the other way around! And second of all, don't tell me what to do Elena, besides, I know what he's done…but he tried to make amends, didn't he? He's not a complete psychopath with no feelings, he just makes bad choices." I ranted as a sudden wave of defensiveness washed over me. Elena rolled her eyes at me and turned away. Stefan was now on his own. I wonder where Lexi went.

"Oh! The famous Gilbert twins." A voice said from behind us.

"Towel girl." Elena muttered.

"I've been called worse. Here." Lexi smirked as she offered us a shot of tequila each.

"You can have mine." I smiled at the blonde while Elena took her shot and placed it on the table we were standing by.

"Suit yourself." Lexi grinned at me.

"I didn't know that you guys could drink." Elena said. I turned to her.

"Wait, you knew Lexi was a vampire?" I asked with shock written all over my face.

"Stefan came round earlier and explained everything. Hold on, how did you know?" Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Damon." I answered simply.

"It helps curb the cravings, but makes for a lot of lushy vamps." Lexi joked, steering the conversation in back to the alcohol.

"I've never seen Stefan drunk. He always seems so…" Elena trailed off.

"Uptight?" Lexi finished for her.

"Yeah, but not with you." Elena nodded.

"Well, that's the benefit of knowing someone for over a hundred years. You can just be yourself." Lexi shrugged.

"Yeah, he can't be himself with me." Elena frowned, looking down.

"Well, not yet. The first step was him telling you. The rest comes with time." Lexi told her.

"You know, it kinda sounds like you've been through this before." I stated. Lexi looked at me with a knowing smile.

"The love of my life was human. He went through, what I imagine you're going through: denial, anger etc…but at the end of the day love really did conquer all." Lexi explained.

"How poetic." I commented with a teasing grin. Lexi let out a chuckle and then eyed up Elena's shot.

"Are you going to drink that?" She asked.

"Go for it." Elena motioned for her to take it. Lexi downed it.

"Woah!" She cheered after finishing it.

"I'm scared." Elena declared.

"But you're here...'cause your crazy about him, I get it ok? I mean what's not to love. Listen. Take it from someone who's been around a long time. When it's real, you can't walk away." Lexi said as she walked towards Stefan.

"Hey Lexi. It was really nice meeting you." Elena called. Lexi sent us a wink and continued walking to Stefan.

* * *

I went and sat at the bar by Damon.

"Lexi's nice." I smiled to myself.

"Hmm, if she likes you." He replied.

"What did you do to piss her off?" I asked.

"And just what makes you think that I did something to piss her off?"

"Well, you are you, Damon." I smirked. Lexi walked over to us with shots in her hands.

"Ah, Alyssa. We meet again." She smiled at me.

"So we do." I returned her smile. Her expression then turned to a serious one and she moved her gaze to Damon.

"All right, the shots are a bribe. I need you to answer a question. What are you really doing in Mystic Falls?" Lexi enquired.

"Have you tried The Brittle. It wins award." Damon smirked, purposely ignoring her question.

"Cut the crap." Lexi snapped.

"Ok, I have a diabolical master plan." That doesn't sound good.

"What is it?" Lexi asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"If I told you it wouldn't be very diabolical, now would it?" Damon smiled innocently at her. A needle was suddenly injected into Lexi's neck as she fell backwards.

"What are you doing?!" Damon whispered to the Sheriff, who was now holding Lexi in her arms.

"Thank you for the vervain; now if you'll excuse me." She replied shortly, ordering her deputies to drag Lexi out. Damon stood up and walked out through the exit that wasn't being watched. I stood up and followed him.

"Where are you going? What just happened?" I asked frantically, extremely worried about Lexi.

"Go back inside, Alyssa." Damon ordered.

"No." I saw Damon take a stake out of his jacket and let out a quiet gasp.

"What are you going to do with that?" I asked hesitantly.

"I'm going to kill a vampire with it."

"So, a stake to the heart isn't just a myth, it really kills vampires?" I asked, momentarily distracted.

"Yep." He answered. I then realised what he had planned.

"Damon, no! You can't kill her. She's Stefan's best friend, she didn't do anything wrong." I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back but he pinned me to the wall.

"Stay here and don't come out until I tell you to, got that?" He asked, but I knew it wasn't really a question.

"Damon please…"

"I mean it, Alyssa." And with that he walked off. I ran a hand through my hair, what more could I do? He was stronger than me and there was no way he'd listen to me if I tried to talk him out of it. I have never felt so useless in my life. A few tears escaped as I desperately tried to think of a way to stop him. I hastily made my way to the front of the Grill and watched as Damon pierced the stake through Lexi's heart. My hand flew up to my mouth as more tears slipped out. I leaned against the wall and slipped down to the ground.

* * *

I had no idea how long I had been sitting there for. Damon crouched down in front of me.

"How could you?" I sobbed.

"I had to get them off of mine and Stefan's trail. It had to be done." He told me as he pushed a piece of my hair back. I stood up abruptly and started walking off in the direction of my home. Damon appeared in front of me.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly.

"I'll walk you home." He told me. I shook my head.

"No. Elena was right, you're a bad person. Stay away from me." I said as I walked past him.

**Updates may get a bit slower from now on as I have many exams to revise for! Hope you enjoy this chapter :)**


	9. History Repeating

**Alyssa's POV**

"Have you even talked to Bonnie?" Elena asked Caroline as we walked into school.

"No, I'm mad at her. She needs to make the first move." Caroline pouted.

"Be the bigger person." Elena shrugged.

"Impossible in her presence." Caroline sighed.

"I don't understand why you're so pissed at her." I spoke up.

"She's a thief. That's why. I gave her my necklace, and she refuses to give it back. It's a matter of principle." Caroline frowned at me.

"But you gave it to her Caroline, it hers. Why should she have to give it back just because you decided that you want it?" I asked. Caroline turned to me and glared.

"Which side are you on?" She snapped at me.

"There are no sides, Caroline. It's just a necklace. Get over it." I glared back at her before leaving the two.

* * *

I was sat in History with my head in my hands, extremely bored. We were getting a new teacher today. I saw Elena walk in with an upset look on her face. 'You okay?' I mouthed. She nodded her head towards Stefan's seat, which was empty, and frowned.

"Good morning everyone. Alrighty." The new teacher said, clapping his hands together. He wrote his name on the blackboard.

"Alaric Saltzman. It's a mouthful. I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably want to pronounce "Ala-ric" but it's "A-lar-ic", okay. So, you can call me Rick. I'm your new history teacher." He smiled at us. He doesn't seem so bad.

* * *

**"**And then I ended up at the remains of the old Fell's church before I woke up back in the woods." Bonnie finished explaining her dream.

"And you always see your ancestor Emily?" Elena asked. Bonnie nodded.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Bonnie questioned us. Elena and I shared a look.

"Yes." I answered. If vampires exist then who knows what else is out there.

"Two weeks ago I'd have said no but now…" Elena trailed off.

"Because I think I'm being haunted." Bonnie said quickly.

"But why would Emily haunt you?" I asked.

"Grams said she was a powerful witch back in the civil war days and that this medallion was hers, a witch's talisman." Bonnie held the necklace up.

"That's what Caroline's bothered about?" I raised a brow.

"Yeah, ridiculous, isn't it?" Bonnie rolled her eyes. I nodded in agreement.

"And it all started when you got the necklace?" Elena clarified.

"I think she's using it to communicate with me." Bonnie told us.

"Ok, what does Grams say about it?"

"I can't call her. She's gonna tell me to embrace it. I don't want to embrace it, I want it to stop." Bonnie frowned.

* * *

I was walking towards Bonnie's car to get a ride home from school when I saw Damon bothering her. I ran over to the two, who had stopped by the car.

"Just leave me alone or I swear…" I heard Bonnie threaten.

"Leave her alone, Damon." I glared at him and stepped in front of Bonnie.

"This is between Sabrina the teenage witch and me, Alyssa. Stay out of it. Besides, I thought you didn't want to be anywhere near me, or have you changed your mind?" Damon smirked at me.

"No, I haven't, I just don't want you near any of the people I care about." I hissed.

"How can you protect someone else when you can't even protect yourself?" Damon grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him. He wouldn't let go no matter how hard I tried to get free.

"Believe it or not, I want to protect your friend. Bonnie, let me help you get Emily off your back." Damon said to me before looking behind me and talking to Bonnie.

"How do you know about her?" Bonnie asked, freaked out. Wait, Bonnie said that Emily was around in the civil war days. Wasn't that sometime around the 1860s? Did he know Emily? Damon let go of me and walked towards Bonnie, who walked backed away from him until she hit a car.

"I know a lot of things, and I know more about that crystal than you do, and I know that she's using it to creep inside of you. See how scared you are? And you should be, because I will get that crystal, even if I have to wait for Emily to give it to me herself. So, next time she comes out to play, you tell her…that a deal's a deal." Damon warned, getting in her face. I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from her.

"Aw, Alyssa. If you wanted me to yourself, you could have asked." Damon smirked, reaching out and playing with one of my curls. I gave him a look of disgust and shoved him away from me, causing him to chuckle as he walked away.

* * *

Bonnie was driving Elena and I home. We had just finished telling Elena about what happened with Damon.

"He's bad news, guys. He really scared me." Bonnie sighed.

"You need to stay as far away from Damon as possible." Elena advised.

"I'm trying. He just keeps showing up." Bonnie said in a tone of annoyance. Can't say I blame her.

"You shouldn't be alone tonight. Which is why you're staying round ours." I told her.

"Yeah, we can make a whole night out of it." Elena suggested with a smile. Bonnie glanced at us before abruptly pulling over to the side of the road.

"Woah! Where are you going?" Elena exclaimed as Bonnie got out of the car, walked over to the field, ripped the necklace off, and threw it at the field. She walked back as if nothing had happened and got into the car.

"Umm…why?" I asked.

"All my problems were because of that thing. Can't believe I didn't do that sooner." Bonnie sighed a sigh of relief.

"What's your Grams gonna say?" Elena asked, worried about Bonnie getting in trouble.

"Grams isn't the one being haunted by a hundred and fifty-years-old ghost, is she?" Bonnie replied sassily.

"You have a point." I nodded in approval. Bonnie put her seatbelt on and drove off.

* * *

Later that evening Stefan came round to talk with Elena and I.

"You gonna be okay while we talk Stefan?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She gave me a weak smile. Elena and I walked out to the porch with Stefan.

"Hey, thanks for coming. I wouldn't have called if it wasn't important." Elena said awkwardly.

"I know that." He replied just as awkward.

"He threatened her, Stefan." Elena stressed, pacing up and down the porch.

"What would Damon want with Bonnie?"

"Her necklace, or rather, Emily Bennet's necklace. Hey, did you guys know her because Bonnie said she was around in the civil war days and well, so were you." I let at a small laugh as I realised how crazy that sentence would seem to anyone who's oblivious to the super natural, which is like…nearly everyone.

"She was Katherine's handmaid and a witch." Stefan nodded his head.

"You know? About Bonnie?" Elena asked shocked.

"Well, if he knew Emily and he's a vampire…does it really shock you that he knows Bonnie's a witch?" I asked Elena with a smirk. She rolled her eyes at me.

"The first night that you invited me over for dinner, I made the connection." Stefan explained.

"And now Damon knows, and for some reason he wants that necklace." Elena sighed heavily.

"What does it look like?" Stefan asked.

"It's an antique iron setting with a…" Elena was cut off.

"With an amber crystal. I know it. It belonged to Katherine, Emily gave it to her which means that…"

"What?" Elena pressed.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find it out. Let me talk to Damon." Stefan said.

"You really think he'll tell you?" I scoffed.

"I'll get it out of him." Stefan corrected himself.

* * *

Elena, Bonnie, Caroline and I were preparing food for our girls night in. Elena and I gave Caroline a stern look.

"I'm sorry. There. I said it. If you want the ugly-ass necklace, keep it. It's yours." Caroline blurted out.

"Will you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?" Bonnie asked nervously. And that's how Caroline exploded. Metaphorically speaking...

"You threw it away?" She yelled.

"I know it sounds crazy but the necklace was giving me nightmares. I had to get rid of it." Bonnie defended herself.

"You could have just given it back to me." Caroline spat.

"Why? So you could give it back to Damon?" Elena accused.

"Okay guys, calm down! It's just a necklace. If Damon wants it then he can go and get it himself." I said calmly.

"Screw Damon. Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?" Caroline huffed.

"Mine's in my bag." Bonnie told her. Caroline walked over to Bonnie's bag.

"So, Elena. How long do you think this fight with Stefan's gonna last? Is it...like a permanent thing?" Caroline wondered, making Elena feel uncomfortable.

"I don't know Caroline." Elena snapped.

"Why are you such a little liar Bonnie?" Caroline sneered.

"What?" Asked a confused Bonnie.

"Caroline!" Elena exclaimed, appalled at Caroline's behaviour towards Bonnie. Caroline held up the…crystal?

"I'm not lying to you, Caroline. I swear." Bonnie promised.

"It's true. We watched her throw it into a field." Elena back Bonnie up. I nodded my head in agreement.

"Then explain it." Caroline demanded.

"Emily." Bonnie murmured.

"It has to be." I agreed.

"Who's Emily?" Caroline asked.

"The ghost." Bonnie informed her.

"The ghost has a name now?" Caroline mocked.

"Caroline, please…" Elena pleaded for the blonde to not joke about this.

"I wonder why she won't leave me alone." Bonnie frowned.

"What is going on? Why am I not a part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time." Caroline accused us.

"We do not!"

"That's not true!" Elena and I protested at the same time.

"Yes it is. I can't talk to you. You don't listen." Bonnie said bluntly.

"That's not true." Caroline denied.

"I'm a witch." Bonnie confessed, testing Caroline.

"And don't we all know it?" Caroline taunted.

"See? That's what I'm talking about. I'm trying to tell you something. You don't even hear it." Bonnie said sadly before walking out.

"I listen. When do I not listen?" Caroline threw her hands up in the air.

"Go and apologise to her Care!" I pointed in the direction that Bonnie had walked off.

"Ugh! Fine." Caroline groaned and walked after her.

"I didn't think she'd give in so easily…" Elena admitted. I shrugged and hid behind the wall to listen to Caroline and Bonnie. Elena quietly joined me.

"Bonnie. Look, it's just not me. I don't believe in the…but if you do, then okay. I'm in. That's all it takes for me to jump on board, because I consider you to be my best friend. And I'm saying this knowing that Elena and Alyssa's in the kitchen listening to my every word. Look, I didn't know how real this was for you, but I'm listening now. Okay? Elena, Alyssa, you can come in now. We're done." Caroline grinned at us as we appeared.

"Thank god." I smiled. They both rolled their eyes at me.

"There is just way too much drama in this room. So, what do you guys wanna do? I have an idea. Why don't we have a séance?" Caroline suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Bonnie refused immediately.

"Yeah, I don't feel like dealing with ghosts tonight because that's exactly what drama is, which is exactly what we all want to avoid." I said.

"Come on. Let's summon some spirits. This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do." Caroline tried to persuade us.

* * *

After much protest, mainly from me, we settled down to do a séance.

"What are we doing?" Bonnie said with a regretful look on her face.

"I don't know." Elena and I shook our heads.

"Be quiet and concentrate. Close your eyes. Now take a deep breathe. Bonnie. Call to her." Caroline instructed.

"Emily you there?" Bonnie called out half heartedly.

"Really? "Emily you there?" That's all you got? Come on." Caroline sighed.

"Fine. Jeez. Emily. I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen." Bonnie stated calmly. The candles suddenly flared up. We all jumped back.

"Did that just…" Elena trailed off breathlessly.

"Yeah, it just happened." Caroline gulped nervously. She hugged herself after feeling a sudden chill.

"It's just the air conditioning." Bonnie told herself. Total denial.

"Of course it is…" I nodded slowly.

"Ask her to show you a sign. Ask her. Emily, if you're among us show us another sign." Caroline said, giving up on Bonnie.

"See? It's not working." Bonnie shrugged. The windows flew open and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the wind.

"You had to say that?!" I freaked out. Bonnie stood up abruptly and ripped the necklace off, throwing it on the flow. The candles went out.

"I can't. I'm done. Get the light. Please, get the light on." Bonnie pleaded.

"Hold on. I got it." Elena smacked the wall, trying to find the light switch. She finally found it. Bonnie looked at the ground with wide eyes.

"You guys, the necklace, it's gone." She pointed to where the necklace once was.

"Okay, fun's over, Caroline. You made a point, and I get it. Now give it back." Elena told Caroline.

"What? Well, I didn't take it. What happened?" Caroline scoffed.

"I don't know. Nothing. Jeremy, are you home?" Elena called out. Bonnie started walking into the bathroom.

"Guys…" The door slammed shut and Bonnie started slamming on the door.

"Bonnie!" I shouted.

"You guys open the door. Help me." She screamed. We all tried to open the door.

"Bonnie! Bonnie! What's going on, Bonnie?" Elena asked, slamming her hand against the door.

"Bonnie!" Caroline and I yelled.

"Try the other door. I'll check the hallway. Alyssa, keep trying this door." Elena instructed as she rushed out into the hallway. Caroline ran out to the other door.

"Bonnie! Can you unlock the door?" I asked.

"No, I can get it open! Alyssa, help me!" Bonnie cried.

"It's going to be okay Bonnie!" I replied as the door opened. Bonnie was stood with an impassive look on her face.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Elena asked as she walked back into the room with Caroline.

"I'm fine." Bonnie replied in a monotone voice. Something's not right…

"Unbelievable. You were totally faking it." Caroline shook her head angrily.

"Caroline, come on." Elena sighed.

"No, you scared the hell out of me." Caroline glared at Bonnie.

"Are you okay?" I asked Bonnie, placing a comforting hand on he shoulder.

"I'm fine. Everything's fine." She replied calmly. She started walking out of the room. We all followed her and watched her as she reached the stairs.

"I can't believe I fell for it." Caroline scoffed.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked Bonnie, who was halfway down the stairs. She stopped and turned back to us.

"I must go."

"She's leaving. I'm leaving." Caroline declared.

"You guys can't leave." Elena protested.

"I can. I've had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night."

"Thank you for having me. I'll take it from here." Bonnie said to us.

"What do you mean "take it from here"?" I asked. Bonnie carried on walking down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Elena threw her hands in the air.

"Back to where it all began." Bonnie answered.

"Um…Elena, I don't think that's Bonnie." I said nervously to my twin.

"Oh my god, Emily!" Elena exclaimed.

"I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed." Emily told us before running out of the house.

"Wait!" Elena and I called, running after her. We got to the door and found that we couldn't open it.

"Why won't it open?!" I yelled, frustrated.

"What's happening?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know. The door, it's not…" Elena trailed off. The door finally opened, causing us the jump back screaming, and Jeremy walked in.

"What the hell?" He looked at us like we were crazy and walked into the kitchen.

"I'm outta here." Caroline said, rushing out of the door.

"Call Stefan." I ordered. Elena dialled his number and waited for him to answer.

"It's Bonnie…Emily is possessing her. She said something…She said "I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed." And then she just left…I don't know. Fell's church, by the old cemetery that's where she took Bonnie in her dreams. We have to help her, Stefan." Elena frowned. Stefan said something and Elena hung up.

"He told us to wait here and he would go and find Bonnie." Elena told me.

"Like hell am I waiting here. C'mon, we're leaving."

* * *

When we got to Fell's church Bonnie…Emily was standing in a ring of fire, holding the necklace up.

"Bonnie!" Elena and I shouted as we ran over to her.

"No, no, no." Stefan stood in front of us, preventing us from going any further. Emily threw the necklace in the air and destroyed it.

"No!" Damon yelled. Emily had clearly left Bonnie's body as she was looking around cluelessly. Damon suddenly blurred over to Bonnie and bit her neck.

"No, Bonnie!" I screamed, trying to get past Stefan. Stefan ran over to Bonnie to check she was still bleeding. Elena and I watched in shock.

"She's alive, but barely. I can save her." He informed us as he bit into his wrist and fed Bonnie his blood. Elena ran over to her and held her close. I looked over to Damon and stormed over to him.

"How could you?!" I sobbed, repeatedly hitting his chest with my fists. He did nothing to stop me. Stefan came over and pulled me away from Damon into a comforting hug. I saw Elena hugging Bonnie as they both sobbed.

* * *

Bonnie, Elena and I were stood by the car.

"I don't understand, what happened to me? He attacked me, and...his face was like…" Bonnie trailed off, trying to find the words to describe Damon's "vampire" face.

"How do you feel? Are you okay?" Elena asked in a motherly tone.

"I'm fine. It's just this blood. I don't…" Bonnie quietened down as Stefan approached us.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Stefan assured her.

"What's going on, you guys?" Bonnie turned to Elena and I.

"We'll explain everything, Bonnie. Okay? Let's just get out of here. Bonnie. Bonnie, look at me. Trust me. He's not going to hurt you." Elena told Bonnie sternly.

"Let's get into the car." I put my arm around Bonnie and guided her to the passenger seat door.

"You're just gonna walk away? Don't walk away, Stefan! Stefan!" I heard Elena cry. Stefan was walking away from her.

* * *

We got back home and went straight up to Elena's room. We explained everything to Bonnie and cried together a lot. After a good 2-3 hours we finally passed out on Elena's bed.

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it :)**


	10. The Turning Point

**Alyssa's POV**

I walked out of my room and found Elena peering into Jeremy's room.

"Why are you spying on Jer?" I asked, making her jump.

"Alyssa don't do that!" She chided.

"I'm sorry did I just sneak up on the spy?" I snickered. She glared at me.

"If you must know, I was just looking into his room because he has his sketch book out." She told me in a hushed tone.

"Really?" I asked. I'm surprised, he hadn't done any sketching since mom and dad died.

"Yeah, let's leave him to it." She smiled and quietly closed his door. We went downstairs where Jenna was getting ready to leave.

"Jeremy's got his sketch pad out." Elena informed her.

"You're kidding?" Jenna's reaction was similar to mine.

"No! I can back her up, she was spying on him so I joined in." I grinned.

"I was not spying!" Elena snapped at me.

"Sure you weren't."

"Ugh! Anyway, don't say a word. The minute we encourage him, he'll put it away." Elena told her.

"Psychology major. Check that!" Jenna gave us a thumbs up. Elena checked her phone.

"You and Stefan? Update?" Jenna asked. Elena started buttoning up her jacket.

"He knows how I feel and where I stand and I know where he stands but it doesn't matter. He's leaving, moving away." Elena sighed.

"Where is he going?"

"I've stopped asking questions. The answers get scary." We walked out of the front door.

"Yours leaves, mine returns." Jenna muttered.

"Logan?" Elena and I asked in sync. Jenna nodded causing us to groan.

"He's back. I didn't let him pass the front door." Jenna grinned.

"I hope you slammed it in his face." Elena said grimly.

"I second that." I raised my hand. Jenna chuckled at us.

"Three strike rule, Jenna. You're not even aloud to watch the news." Elena warned her.

"Exactly. No more Logan "Scum" Fell."

"Just remember that you said that." I nudged her side.

* * *

Elena, Bonnie and I were walking down the hallway and spotted Matt and Caroline acting all lovey-dovey.

"Did I miss something?" Elena asked.

"They've been hanging out." Bonnie shrugged.

"Clearly." I commented.

"Kind of weird, don't you think?" Elena said, clearly slightly freaked out about seeing her best friend and ex-boyfriend giggling. The pair walked of into a classroom.

"She needs someone nice like him, as opposed to a homicidal vampire like Damon." Bonnie said with a look of disgust.

"Yeah, how are you doing with all that?"

"I'm freaked out. Damon attacked me. I could be dead right now. But I'm also grateful."

"Grateful?" I repeated.

"To Stefan. He saved my life and…have you seen him?" Bonnie wondered, directing her question at Elena. I could tell she was hesitant about talking to Elena about Stefan. Elena took her scarf off and opened her locker. She threw the scarf and her bag in her locker.

"Not since he told me he was leaving. For all I know, he's already gone." She sighed sadly.

"He wouldn't leave without saying goodbye." Bonnie tried to cheer her up.

"Yeah, Bonnie's right." I helped Bonnie. Elena started getting her books out of her locker.

"Yes, he would. He thinks he's protecting me. Clean break and all that." Elena rolled her eyes.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Bonnie wondered.

"What am I supposed to do? I've already begged him not to go. If I ask again, I'm being selfish. It is what it is."

"It's not selfish, Elena. You love him." I rubbed her arm, trying to comfort her.

"Maybe it's for the best." Bonnie shrugged. Elena and I stopped, both of us shocked at what Bonnie just said.

"Bonnie…" I said in a warning tone.

"What? Why?" Elena snapped.

"I mean, what kind of future could you have had with him, even if he stayed?" Bonnie explained herself. A banner suddenly fell down on top of us. It had on it "The Promise of your Future". Elena and I both looked at Bonnie with suspicious looks.

"Did you just…?"

"Was that…" Elena and I asked in sync.

"No, I swear." Bonnie denied. Elena sighed and angrily hit the banner away before storming off.

"Did I just make her feel even worse?" Bonnie had regret written all over her face.

"Maybe a little…" I admitted.

"Let's just go after her." Bonnie muttered. We walked after my raging sister.

* * *

I was walking out of school when I saw Stefan and Elena talking. I walked up to them.

"Stefan, hey! Are you coming back to school?" I asked with a smile.

"Uh no, there's a new vampire in town." Stefan told me.

"Who?"

"We don't know. Damon is tracking them right now." Stefan explained. I nodded.

"Well, be careful…Damon too." I gave him a small smile.

"We will." Stefan nodded.

"Thanks for telling us." Elena smiled.

"Look, I promised you the truth so I wanted to tell you. I want you to be careful." Stefan said.

"When I saw you, I…thought you were coming to say goodbye." Elena admittedly sheepishly.

"Not yet."

* * *

"We're home!" I called out as Elena and I walked through the door.

"Hey! Get ready for the careers fair." Jenna ordered.

"You're not actually making me go, are you?" I groaned.

"Yes, I am. It's important Alyssa." She told me.

"Fine." I obliged reluctantly.

* * *

We were about to leave for the careers fair.

"Ready to go?" Jenna asked.

"Actually I'll drive Elena and I in our car. I need to speak with her."

"Alright, we'll meet you there." Jenna nodded. We got into the car.

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"How long do you think it will take Stefan and Damon to find this new vampire?" I asked.

"I have no idea. You?"

"Don't know, that's why I asked you. Do you think Stefan will realise that vampires will probably keep coming here and that he just has to stay to protect us?" I asked hopefully.

"I doubt it. Look, I know you're trying to make me feel better but…I'm okay. You're a good sister." She smiled at me.

"Honey, I'm a great sister." I snickered. She smirked at me and rolled her eyes.

* * *

When we got to the careers fair Elena dragged me around with her.

"This is boring." I whined.

"Shut up and make the most out of it." Elena chided. I pouted and followed her over to Matt.

"Still wanna be an astronaut?" Elena asked him with a grin.

"I can't believe you remember that." Matt snorted.

"Didn't you wrap tinfoil around your head? Oh, I'm sorry, I meant didn't you used to wear a space helmet?" I giggled.

"I was eight."

"You were such a cool eight year old." I poked my tongue out art him.

"I know." He retaliated back.

"How are you doing?" Asked the always sensible, always serious Elena.

"I've had it easier. You? I heard some things. So, it's true that you and Stefan…" Matt trailed off, not knowing what to say. I noticed Caroline by the door with an upset look on her face. I saw that she was looking at Matt and Elena. Don't tell me she's upset by them talking. What am I? Invisible?

"Yeah, it is." Elena answered. I was about to walk over to Caroline but she quickly left the room.

"What about you, Matt Donovan? I heard about Caroline."

"Aw, man, not you too."

"Hey."

"We're friends. It's not a big deal." Matt shrugged.

"Well, I hope it's not because she saw you guys talking and ran out." I sighed.

"What?" He turned and looked at the door. Stefan was now where Caroline was stood. Elena and I glanced at each other.

"Could you excuse us?" I said before leaving with Elena.

* * *

"I'm guessing you're not here to plan the path for your future. You're looking out for us." Elena lightly joked.

"Hope that's okay." Stefan said. Elena didn't respond and instead went to look at some career pamphlets.

"It's fine." I replied for her, rolling my eyes at her. Stefan gave me a smile with a slight sigh and walked over to Elena.

"You know, I wanted to be a doctor before everything happened, but, uh, then I couldn't, cause…" Stefan trailed off awkwardly.

"The blood." Elena finished for him.

"Yeah. I've dabbled in a bunch of different things, though."

"Okay, I'm going to leave you guys to it." I excused myself and went over to Jenna.

"Hey aunt Jenna!" I grinned. She jumped and span around to face me.

"Hide me." She begged as she ducked behind me.

"Why?" I asked.

"The scum Fell has landed." Jenna grumbled.

"Well, I'm sure you could get away with hiding in the bathroom for a while." I smirked.

"Oh, good idea!" She exclaimed as she ran off.

"What was that about?" An amused voice asked.

"Oh, she's hiding from Logan. He turned up." I explained, turning around to look at my sister. Stefan was right behind her.

"Did you just say Logan? As in Logan Fell?" He asked me in an urgent tone.

"Yeah, why?"

"That's not good." He mumbled. He walked out into the hallway.

"What was that about?" I asked my twin.

"I have no idea. But I'm going to find out." She replied. She walked after Stefan and I, being the curious person I am, followed her.

"Stefan, what's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"Follow me." He instructed. We did as we were told and followed him outside.

"So, what's going on?" I enquired.

"Logan died. He's a vampire." Stefan informed us.

"Please tell me you're joking." I groaned.

"I wish I was."

"He tried to get inside the house. Jenna turned him away. Does that mean he wants to…drink her blood or something?" I asked uncomfortably.

"Probably." Stefan answered. We walked back inside and saw Matt walk up to us.

"Hey." He greeted us.

"Hey, have you seen Logan Fell, the news guy?" Elena asked.

"Yeah. He just gave Caroline a ride home." Matt told us. He walked off and Elena and I turned to Stefan with extremely worried expressions.

"Stay here." Stefan demanded as he walked off.

* * *

Elena and I were looking around the stupid career booths, worrying about Caroline. Stefan was stood at the end of the hallway. Elena and I rushed to him.

"Is she okay?"

"Caroline?" Stefan lead us away from the crowd.

"She's okay. I took her home. She was shaken up. But all she knows is Logan attacked her. Nothing else." Stefan told us.

"And Logan?" I questioned.

"Damon's dealing with him." Which means Logan will be dead by the end of the night.

"As in…?" Elena wondered. Stefan nodded.

"You saw what happened tonight, right? I mean, you understand why we can't be together? You see it?" Stefan asked Elena. She reached her hand out to soothe him but he pulled away.

"Yeah, I'm starting to see a lot of things, Stefan." She sighed.

"Come on. We'll give you a ride." I offered, trying to give Elena more time with Stefan.

"Uh, I can get home." He replied.

"It's just one ride Stef."

"All right. That would be nice." He said, giving up after realising that I wasn't going to back down.

* * *

I pulled up to Stefan's house.

"Here you go. Bye Stefan." I nodded at him.

"Bye Alyssa." He got out of the car.

"Go after him." I told Elena. She looked over at me shocked but shook it off and nodded.

"You can go home. I'm not letting him go. Thank you." She hugged me before going after Stefan.

* * *

"Hey, where's Elena?" Jenna greeted me as I threw myself onto the couch next to her.

"She's at Stefan's." I said suggestively.

"Ooh, we'll have to grill her when she gets back!" She grinned.

"Oh believe me, we will." I laughed. We sent the rest of the night watching movies. Jenna got up with a big yawn and a stretch.

"Get to bed soon." She said, kissing the top of my head.

"I will. Goodnight Jenna."

"Night." I cleared everything away and was about to turn off the living room light when my phone went off.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Alyssa, can you come and get me please?" Elena sobbed.

"Elena?! What's wrong? Why are you crying?" I asked.

"We look like her, Ally. We look like Katherine." She said in a rush.

"Okay, Elena calm down. What do you mean we look like her?" I grabbed my car keys and slipped on my shoes.

"We look exactly like her. Can you please just come and get me?" She asked quietly.

"I'm on my way." I told her as I started the car.

I was driving down a completely empty road, with my thoughts rushing at a hundred miles an hour. Why do we look like her? Is that why Damon said I was special? Am I really wondering that? Do I even care? Why do I feel hurt by that? Out of nowhere a figure appeared in the middle of the road. Letting out a gasp I slammed down on the brakes but ended up hitting the person. I shut my eyes as the car flipped over and the glass from the windshield shattered all over me. The car finally stopped turning but landed upside down. I coughed and opened my eyes. I felt dizzy and my head was pounding but other than that I was fine. I looked out onto the road and saw the figure getting back up, cracking their bones back into place. The person started walking towards me, making my eyes widen in realisation as I realised that the person was a vampire. I started struggling but I couldn't get free. I started sobbing violently.

"Somebody help me! Please! Help me!" I screamed.

**And that concludes this chapter! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Only 2 more exams to go so I'll probably start updating faster :)**


	11. Bloodlines

**Alyssa's POV**

I saw the person getting closer to me and scream as loudly as I could. The person suddenly run away and someone appeared by my door making me scream. The person crouched down.

"How ya doing in there?" It was Damon.

"Damon?" I sobbed.

"You look stuck." Damon commented.

"It's my seatbelt. I can't get it."

"Let me get you out of there. I want you to put your hands on the roof. Just like that. You ready? 1, 2, 3. I got you. Are you ok? Can you stand? Is anything broken?" He instructed as he undid my seatbelt and picked me up.

"No." I shook my head. Big mistake. He put me down but found that I could barely stand as I fell forward. He caught me and lifted my head up to look at him.

"Whoa, you're fading fast, Alyssa. Alyssa, look at me. Focus. Look at me. Okay. Think you can stay awake for me?" I briefly heard Damon say.

"Why do we look like her?" I whispered before blacking out.

* * *

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes, slowly getting used to the bright light that flooded my vision. I noticed that the scenery was passing by quickly and found myself sat in a car. I looked over to the driver's seat and saw Damon.

"Well, good morning sleeping beauty. I was wondering when you were going to wake up." He smirked at me.

"Damon…where are we?" I asked.

"Georgia." He answered.

"Georgia? Good joke, now where are we really?"

"Seriously, we're in Georgia. How ya feeling?"

"A little dizzy…did you give me, I mean did you feed me your…?" I trailed off, finding it too weird to say it out loud.

"Blood? No. And you don't need to worry about any broken bones, there aren't any. I checked. " He chuckled.

"I was going to pick Elena up…someone was in the road. Oh my god, I hit someone! But then they got up and…who was that?" I was slowly piecing the pieces of last night back together.

"That's what I would like to know." Damon muttered.

"Oh god, Elena. I need to call her. Wait, she said that we look like her…Katherine. So that's why I was 'special', because I look like her. I'm just some replacement until you get her back." I said bitterly.

"No, that's not why you're special and you're not just some replacement."

"Why do we look like her?" I demanded.

"I don't know." Damon replied. I sighed and checked my pockets for my phone but found that it wasn't there.

"You took my phone?!" I hissed angrily.

"Yep."

"Pull over. I mean it, Damon. Pull over! Stop the car!" I yelled, wincing as I did. My head was still sore.

"Oh you were so much more fun when you were asleep." Damon whined but pulled over anyway. I got out of the car, cling onto it as I got out. I fell forward slightly but was stopped by a pair of hands catching my waist. I looked and found ice blue eyes filled with worry looking at me. Worry? Okay, I must be seeing things.

"You okay?" Damon asked cautiously. I groaned and leaned against him, clamping my eyes shut.

"My head is spinning." I whimpered. I felt Damon run a hand through my hair.

"You'll be okay."

"We have to go back." I told him as I looked up at him.

"Oh c'mon. Look. We've already come this far…" Damon gestured to the fields which surrounded us.

"I was in a car accident, Damon. I shouldn't be here, I should be home. I have to go. This is practically kidnapping." I ranted, poking Damon in the chest with my finger.

"That's a little melodramatic, don't you think?" Damon smirked at me.

"Take me home, Damon."

"Not yet."

"I'm not going to Georgia with you."

"Sure you are. Well, you already have. We're _in_ Georgia. It's not hard to get your cute little bracelet off, I can very easily make you...agreeable."

"You wouldn't. You didn't before and you won't now." I said confidently.

"Wanna bet?" He raised an eyebrow at me. I narrowed my gaze at him but realised I was fighting a losing battle. The quicker we get to wherever he wants to go, the quicker I get home.

"Fine, but as soon as you've done what you want, you take me home." I reasoned with him.

"Fine." He grinned. My phone started ringing.

"That's my phone." I pointed out. Damon took it out of his pocket and looked at who was calling.

"Mmm. It's your sister. I'll get it. Alyssa's phone." Damon smirked. I could vaguely hear my sister's voice on the other end.

"Alyssa? She's right here. Got into a bit of a car accident. Yes, she's fine. She wants to talk to you." Damon told me, handing me the phone. I grabbed it.

"Elena?" I said into the phone.

"Alyssa, thank god!"

"I'm fine, don't worry. Damon actually…well, he saved me." I told her.

"Oh, don't look so surprised." Damon rolled his eyes, making me laugh slightly.

"Where are you? I told Jenna that you were staying round a Caroline's house." Elena said.

"I'm in Georgia." I held the phone away, knowing that my sister was about to shout.

"WHAT?!" I placed the phone back to my ear.

"I'm on a…road trip with Damon. Unwillingly, may I add."

"You want to be here and you know it." Damon smirked. I rolled my eyes. That may be true but I don't want him to know it.

"When are you coming home? We need to talk." Elena told me.

"I don't know…Damon?" I asked. He grabbed the phone.

"Who knows? Alyssa enjoys spending time with me, so we could be here awhile. Well, gotta go bye." Damon hung up.

"Wha- Damon!" I slapped his arm. He held his arm and faked pain.

"Ow, that hurt. Now you have to make it up to me." He pouted.

"Can we just go already?" I muttered.

"Get in the car." He grinned at me.

* * *

We had been in the car sitting in a comfortable silence for a while now. A thought suddenly occurred to me.

"What did you do with my car?" I wondered.

"I pulled it off to the side of the road. I don't think anyone will bother it." Damon shrugged.

"Ugh, Jenna's gonna kill me." I whined.

"Well, Elena's going to try and kill me. I kidnapped her sister." Damon joked.

"So you admit it! This does count as kidnapping."

"No, because you're willing to come with me."

"Correction, reluctantly willing to go with you." I corrected him.

"Whatever."

"So, the man I hit was a vampire, right?" I asked.

"From what I could tell, yeah…" Damon answered.

"You didn't know him?"

"If I've never met him, I wouldn't know him. I mean, it's not like we all hang out together at the Vamp Bar & Grill."

"So, there's no like…vampire council type thing? I mean if there's a founder's council then…"

"No, it doesn't work like that." Damon said as he pulled up to a bar called 'Bree's Bar'.

"This is what you wanted to do in Georgia. Take a teenage girl drinking?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Trust me, you'll have fun." Damon grinned.

* * *

The bar was quiet and practically empty. Damon walked up to the bar where a woman with big, dark, curly hair was wiping the surface. She looked at Damon with a shocked expression and jumped over the bar.  
"No. No, it can't be. Damon. My honey pie." She grinned. She grabbed Damon's face and kissed him passionately. I felt jealousy raged inside of me and ended up gritting my teeth, crossing my arms, and looking away from them. They finally pulled away and Damon looked at me with a smirk. I glared up at him as he wrapped an arm around my waist and brought me into his side. My jealousy was the only reason I allowed him to keep his arm there.

"Bree, this is Alyssa. Alyssa meet Bree. Now, why don't you smile and tell the nice lady all about yourself." Damon said patronisingly, bringing his face close to mine.

"You're an ass." I growled. Damon grinned and kissed my cheek.

"So I've been told. Oh, and I'd keep that jealousy in control if I were you. Jealousy's a bitch." He smirked. I scoffed and took a seat at the bar. A few more people had arrived by now and Bree had lined up some shot glasses. She poured alcohol into them.

"Listen up everybody! Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness! Drink up! Ahh. Whoo!" She cheered. Damon drank my shot for me. Bree leaned against the bar and looked at me.

"So, how'd he rope you in?" She asked, pouring me a shot. Damon watched me closely.

"I'm not roped in. I was actually forced to come here with him. I am in no way dating him." I told her in a defiant tone.

"Who are you trying to kid, Ally." Damon chuckled as he placed his hand on my thigh.

"Honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped. Either way, just enjoy the ride." Bree smiled and poured Damon another shot.

"Okay. So, how did you two meet?" I sighed.

"College." Bree answered. I gave Damon a disbelieving look.

"You went to college?"

"I've been on a college campus, yes." Damon smirked and drank his shot. I rolled my eyes at him.

"About 20 years ago, when I was a sweet, young freshman, I met this beautiful man, and I fell in love. And then he told me about his little secret, made me love him more. Because, you see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody." Bree smiled a knowing smile.

"She's a witch." Damon leaned forward and whispered in my ear. I looked at Bree with a surprised look.

"Changed my world, you know." Bree grinned at Damon.

"I rocked your world." Damon smirked.

"He is good in the sack, isn't he?" Bree said to me.

"I wouldn't know." I replied.

"But she wants to." Damon added. I glared at him.

"Shut up."

"Well, mostly he's just a Walk-Away Joe. So, what is it that you want?" Bree asked Damon. Damon said nothing.

* * *

Bree had left to go and deal with other customers.

"I want my phone, Damon." I said.

"I left it in the car." He shrugged.

"Then go and get it." I demanded.

"If I get you your phone will you loosen up and have some fun?" He asked.

"Yes." I answered, wanting my phone back.

"Alright, I'll be back." Damon said, getting up, placing a quick kiss on the top of my head and walking out. Bree came back over to me.

"Honey, you're both lucky and unlucky." She said to me.

"Excuse me?"

"You're not just some girl to him, sweetie. I've seen the way he is with you and I've seen the look in his eyes, he cares about you, and it's because of that that you're lucky. However, you have some serious competition. I hope you're prepared." She told me.

"Competition for what? Nothing's going on between us. And Damon doesn't care about me. He only cares about Katherine." I sighed.

"You're wrong." Bree said before leaving. Damon took his place beside me and handed me my phone.

"Thanks." I said, taking it. I checked it and found 15 missed calls from Elena and about 10 messages from her. You'd think that after the first 6/7 calls she'd give up.

"I'm going to call Elena." I told Damon, getting up.

* * *

"Alyssa?!" Elena's voice exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's me." I told her.

"Where are you? We'll come and get you."

"We? Who's we?"

"Me and Stefan." She replied.

"The guy who failed to mention that we look exactly like his vampire ex?" I asked angrily.

"There's something you need to know…"

"What is it?"

"Not over the phone. Where are you?" She asked.

"If there's something I should know, tell me now." I ordered.

"Where are you?" She ignored me. Why wouldn't she just tell me? She's really starting to annoy me.

"Forget it. Damon will take me home." I told her before hanging up. I looked back at where Damon was sat and saw that he was no longer there. I turned around and came face to face with him, making me jump.

"God you scared me!" I breathed out.

"You okay?" He asked, seemingly concerned. Could Bree have been right?

"Yeah, it's just…Elena knows something, something important and she wouldn't tell me. You know what? You're right. I need to loosen up and have fun." I admitted. He chuckled.

"You hungry?" Damon asked.

"Yes!" My face lit up and the mention of food.

* * *

Damon and I were sat back at the bar eating burgers and fries.

"Let's just say that I'm descended from Katherine...does that make me part vampire?" I asked curiously.

"Vampires can't procreate. But we love to try." Damon smirked.

"Ugh, I'm trying to eat." I whined.

"No, if you were related, it would mean Katherine had a child before she was turned." Damon told me.

"Did Stefan think that he could use Elena to replace her?" I asked angrily.

"Kinda creepy if you ask me." Damon shrugged.

"Says you. You said that you didn't hurt me because I'm 'special'. Really it was just because I look like Katherine." I rolled my eyes at him, trying to hide the hurt evident in my eyes.

"I've already told you that that's not true." Damon sighed.

"Doesn't matter anyway." I muttered, taking the pickles out of my burger.

"Come on, what? You don't like pickles? What's wrong with you?" Damon joked.

"Why are you eating? Or rather, how are you eating? I hate to break it to you but…you're dead dude."

"As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally." Damon explained whilst chuckling.

"So, do you actually…care about me?" I asked hesitantly, looking into his eyes so that I could tell whether he was telling the truth.

"Yes." He answered, staring back at me.

"Here you go." Bree smiled, handing Damon a beer.

"Thank you." Damon looked away from me and took the beer.

"If I have to spend more time with you then I'll have one too. I'm going to need it." I smirked at Damon. Who rolled his eyes at me but had a smile on his face.

"There you go." Bree grinned, giving me a beer. I took a long sip of it, earning me a surprised look from Damon.

"What? I'm just loosening up and have fun." I said with an innocent smile.

* * *

Later on in the evening pretty much the everyone in the bar was drinking shots, including me.

"Ready...Go!" Bree called out. I downed mine quickly and slammed my shot glass down onto the bar. I grinned, clapping my hands together, doing a little happy dance.

"That's 3! Aw, do you need a bib?" I said in a childish tone to Damon.

"Sorry I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol." Damon chuckled.

"Admit it, you're impressed." I grinned, leaning in so that my face was close to his.

"Hmm, maybe just a little." He smirked.

"Whatever. All right. Who's next? Another round, Bree." I cheered. A blonde woman nudged me.

"Honey, you should be on the floor!" She told me.

"I am not even drunk. My tolerance is, like, way up here." I slurred, jumping up with my hand in the air to show how high my tolerance us.

"All right. Here you go." Bree said, pouring more shots.

After about 4 more rounds of shots Damon motioned me to walk over to him. I stumbled over to him and tripped. He caught and planted his hands firmly on my waist, holding me up.

"Thanks." I giggled, swaying slightly. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I think you've had enough." He chuckled.

"I'm just having fun! Have I ever told you how hot you are?" I asked, biting my lip.

"No, but I knew you thought it." Damon smirked.

"Mmm, just like every other that's ever laid eyes on you. I don't like it when you pay attention to other girls. You hurt me earlier when you kissed Bree." I pouted.

"Wow, who knew that it only takes getting you drunk to get the truth from you." Damon grinned down at me.

"You have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen." I cooed.

"Really?" Damon smirked. I nodded and quickly pressed my lips against his. I could tell he was shocked but he eventually started to kiss back. I felt him pull me even closer to him, deepening the kiss. My phone started ringing and I pulled away to answer it.

"Hello?" I asked, slurring my words.

"Alyssa?" My sister's voice asked.

"Elena! Hold on, it's loud in here." I shouted as I covered my ear and stumbled out of the bar.

"Alyssa, where are you? Are you okay? You hung up on me and ignored me." Elena said.

"Huh? Yeah. No, I'm good. Everything's fine. I was annoyed that you wouldn't tell me whatever it is you're keeping from me." I replied. I tripped up and dropped my phone.

"Oops." I giggled to myself. As I went to pick it up someone grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth. I struggled and tried to scream but found that I couldn't move. Tears gathered in my eyes as the person placed me on a tank. I clung to it, trying to figure out a way to climb down when I saw Damon walking towards me.

"Damon, no!" I gasped and tried to warn him. The man who grabbed me attacked Damon with a bat, hitting him repeatedly. I had climbed down quickly and jumped the rest of the distance, stumbling slightly as I landed. I ran towards Damon.

"What the hell?!" Damon growled angrily. The man started pouring gasoline on Damon.

"No!" I shouted, running towards him. He turned around and hissed at me, showing his veins and fangs. I gasped and stepped back.

"Who are you?" Damon groaned.

"That's perfect! You have no idea." The man scoffed.

"What are you talking about? What did he do?" I asked. The man turned to me.

"He killed my girlfriend. What did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you?!" He shouted. I rolled my eyes, of course Damon killed his girlfriend.

"Nothing." Damon said guiltily.

"I don't understand." I shook my head.

"My girlfriend went to visit Stefan, and Damon killed her. Got it?" The man asked with tears in his eyes. And then it hit me…Lexi. The man hit Damon with the bat, causing the latter to groan in pain.

"Lexi? Lexi was your girlfriend? She told me about you. She said that you were human." I told the man.

"I was." He replied.

"Lexi turned you?" I asked, slightly surprised.

"If you want to be with someone forever, you have to live forever."

"She loved you. She said that, "When it's real, you can't walk away."" I said, trying to distract him from hurting Damon.

"Well, that's a choice you're not going to have to make." He replied. He got out a match. My eyes widened as I ran in front of Damon.

"Don't. Don't, please, don't hurt him." I begged. He lit the match.

"I'm doing you a favour." He growled.

"Lexi loved you! And she was good! And that means you're good too. Be better than him. Don't do this. I'm begging you! Please." I pleaded. I felt the tears that were building up slip down my face. The man picked Damon up and threw him against the bar, but eventually stopped attacking him.

"Thank you." I whispered gratefully.

"It wasn't for you." He hissed before running off. I took off towards Damon and sat down beside him, taking his face into my hands.

"Are you okay?" I asked. He nodded, wincing slightly. He lifted a hand up and stroked my face.

"Did he hurt you?" He asked.

"No, he just used me to lure you out here. I'm fine." I assured him. I pulled him into a hug.

"I was so scared, I thought he was going to kill you." I sobbed. He hugged back and ran a hand through my hair.

"It's okay, I'm fine." He whispered, placing a kiss on my shoulder.

* * *

Damon told me to wait in the car whilst he spoke to Bree. I rested my head against the cool glass and let out a sigh. Not only did I save Damon's life, but I kissed him, even though I know he's in love with Katherine. Nice one Alyssa. I heard the door open and watched as Damon got in. I noticed he was frowning.

"Something wrong?" I asked. He looked at me for a moment before replying.

"Everything's fine."

* * *

We had been driving for a while and it now was early in morning. I decided to ask Damon the question I had been dying to ask.

"Why did you bring me with you?" I asked.

"Well, you're not the worst company in the world, Alyssa. You should give yourself more credit! You were definitely entertaining." Damon smirked.

"Damon…"

"You were there in the road, all damsel-in-distress-like. You were practically begging me to take you away." Damon chuckled.

"I saved your life!" I smirked.

"I know." Damon grinned.

"And don't you forget it!"

"I'm sure you won't let me."

"Damon, about the kiss…" I started.

"It was pretty good." Damon grinned.

"Yeah and it stays in Georgia. You're in love with Katherine and you want her back. I don't want to be a replacement." I said quietly. I glanced at Damon.

"Alright." He said. The rest of the journey was silent.

* * *

We pulled up to the boarding house and sat in the car for a minute.

"I'm sorry if I took that too seriously. I realise that you don't care about me like that. I shouldn't have brought it up, I shouldn't have brought Katherine up." I said quietly.

"It's fine. Relax, things can just go back to normal. We'll throw playful comments at each other and you will go back to thinking I'm a jerk." Damon gave me a genuine smile.

"Could we not tell Elena about any of this, please?"

"What happens in Georgia, stays in Georgia."

* * *

I walked into the boarding house while Damon left to go to the Grill.

"Hello! Elena?" I called out. Someone suddenly flung themselves at me and hugged me tightly.

"Thank god you're okay!" Elena sighed, relieved that I was safe.

"I'm fine." I told her as I hugged her back.

"We need to talk. C'mon." She led me up to Stefan's room. Stefan was sat down on his bed.

"Hey Stefan." I greeted him.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked.

"I'm fine." I told him.

"You should sit down, it's a lot to take in." Elena suggested.

"Um okay?" I sat down by Stefan and Elena joined us.

"I've known about you two since May 23, 2009." Stefan admitted.

"That was the day our parents' car went off the bridge." I said.

"Every couple of years I come back here, to see Zach and see my home. Last spring, I was out in the woods, by old Wickery Bridge. And I heard the accident. All of it. I was fast getting there, but not fast enough. The car was already submerged. Your dad was still...he was still conscious. I was able to get to him, but he wouldn't let me help him, until I helped both of you." Stefan explained. I felt fresh tears fall down my face.

"Nobody could figure out how we got out of the car. They said it was a miracle." I murmured.

"I was able to pull the both of you out at the same time. I went back for your parents but it was too late. I couldn't-I couldn't save them. When I pulled you out, I looked at your faces. You looked like Katherine. I couldn't believe the resemblance. After that, I spent months making sure that you neither of you were her. I watched you. I learned everything that I could about you. And I saw that you were nothing like Katherine. Admittedly, I spent more time watching Elena. I had fallen in love with her, but I cared about you too, Alyssa. I couldn't help but think what great friends we could be. You kind of reminded me of Lexi, in a way. You were both so sarcastic. And I wanted to leave town, but I couldn't. I couldn't leave without knowing you. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you. I wanted to. But you were both so sad." Stefan continued.

"Do you know why we look like her?" I asked.

"It didn't make any sense. You were a Gilbert. She was a Pierce. But the resemblance was too similar. And then I learned the truth." Stefan stopped and looked at Elena. Elena grabbed my hands.

"We're adopted, Alyssa." Elena said.

"What?" I whispered. I looked at Stefan who confirmed it with a nod.

"I managed to get a look at your birth certificates. They said Elena Gilbert and Alyssa Gilbert, Mystic Falls General. But there's no record of your mother ever being admitted. There's no record of her ever being pregnant." Stefan informed me. I put my head in my hands, trying to take in the information.

"Let's get you home, okay?" Elena said, wrapping her arms around me.

* * *

When we got in we were met by an angry Jenna.

"I don't set a lot of rules, you guys. Not with you. I trust you to tell me the truth. Where were you? Why would you lie to me about it? Alyssa, I got a call about your car and Caroline rang to ask what you were doing. Elena, you lied about Alyssa staying round Caroline's, what if she was in danger? I thought that we were closer than that." Jenna shouted.

"Now is not the time you want to talk to us about lies." Elena snapped, as she pulled me over to the staircase.

"Don't do that. Don't turn this back on me. I didn't do anything." Jenna said as she followed us. I spoke up for the first time since leaving the boarding house.

"Are we adopted? We trust you to tell us the truth too, Jenna. How could you? I thought we were closer than that." I said, throwing her own words back at her.

"I didn't- they asked me not to." Jenna stuttered.

"We don't want to hear it!" Elena said, guiding me upstairs.

**A very dramatic chapter! Hope you enjoy it, and thank you to everyone who reviews! I love hearing what you guys think and it really puts a smile on my face reading them :)**


	12. Unpleasantville

**Alyssa's POV**

I was sat in the dining room with Jeremy, who was sketching while I was reading a magazine. The doorbell went and Jeremy stood up.

"Must be the pizza." Jeremy grinned.

"Finally!" I cheered, making Jeremy chuckle. He went and answered the door.

"Hey Lyss, I need the money." Jeremy said as he walked back into the room.

"Get Elena, she can pay." I waved a hand at him. He walked over to the stairs and called for Elena.

**"**Elena, I need the money!" I heard Jeremy call out to Elena. A couple of minutes later Elena walked in and place the pizza on the table.

"Dig in!" She smiled as we opened the box eagerly.

"Thanks for dinner Lena." I gave her a quick wink and snickered. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Whatever." She scoffed.

* * *

I pulled up to the school in Jenna's car. She had been kind enough to let us borrow it, although I expected it was to try and soften us up a bit. We were still on edge about the adoption secret.

"I'm going to give Caroline a necklace with vervain in it." Elena informed me.

"Okay, has Jeremy got anything?" I asked hopefully, wanting Jeremy to remain as safe as possible.

"Yeah, I gave him a bracelet."

"Good." We got out of the car and walked to school.

* * *

Elena, Caroline and I were sat on a bench. Caroline was admiring the necklace Elena had given her.

"It's so pretty. Thank you. God, it'll go with, like, everything. What's the occasion?" Caroline gushed.

"Does there need to be an occasion?" I asked.

**"**No occasion. Just a little friend gift." Elena shrugged.

"Lesbian friend necklace? Cause we're freaky like that?" Caroline teased with a wink.

"Your friendship is important to us." Elena told her with a serious tone.

"Why are you being so mushy?" Caroline raised a brow. Elena looked away trying to find a reason.

"Let's just cut to the chase. Elena feels like you've avoiding her because you've gotten close with Matt. This is kind of a sign that shows that she's cool with it." I said, putting it bluntly.

Elena glared at me for being so blunt about it but I ignored her. I heard her sigh. "Ally's right. I'm completely fine about whatever is going on with you and Matt." As soon as Elena said that Caroline looked guilty.

"I was gonna talk to you about that. I was, but there's just not much to say. You know, we've hung out a couple times. That's it, but...I just feel like we've peeked as friends. This is weird. I shouldn't be talking to you about this. It's weird. It's weird, right?" Caroline babbled.

Elena laughed slightly. "It's a little weird, but if it's what you and Matt want, then it's not about me." She admitted.

"But it's all about you. Matt's not over you, and we all know it." Caroline looked down sadly.

"I'm with Stefan now. Matt understands that. He knows he has to move on." Elena said taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Besides, if Matt can't see how awesome you are, then it's his loss." I assured my blonde friend. She may drive me insane sometimes but I still loved her.

"Really?" Caroline asked quietly.

"Really." I grinned.

She broke out into a smile. "Thanks you guys."

* * *

"I can't believe you're adopted. I never saw that coming." Bonnie said. Elena, Bonnie and I were eating dinner at the Grill.

"And it gets weirder. We looked at our birth certificates. It lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as our birthparents. None of it makes any sense." Elena shook her head.

"But then again, dad was a doctor. It would have been easy for him to write that." I shrugged.

"Which is why you should ask Jenna." Bonnie told us. We groaned. "First of all, the Elena and Alyssa I know would always want the real truth, good or bad."

"And second of all?" Elena asked hesitantly, probably scared to ask.

"You just found out your boyfriend and friend is a vampire, so unless your birthparents are aliens…" Elena and I laughed at this. "How bad could it be?"

"Did you just lecture us?" I asked.

"Pretty much." Bonnie smirked. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Look, we have to go to the store. My outfit for the dance is severely lacking accessories and I'm making Ally come with me to make sure I look okay." Elena nudged me.

"Yeah, it's going to be so much fun." I said in an emotionless voice.

Bonnie chuckled at me. "Okay, I'll pay the bill." She offered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well, how lucky am I? Elena bought me dinner last night and Bonnie's buying me dinner tonight. You guys spoil me." I taunted them.

"Yeah well, I get to drag you around with me." Elena grinned. I pouted.

"Bye Bonnie." Elena and I waved at our friend and walked out.

"Bye." She waved back.

* * *

We were walking through the parking lot when my phone started ringing.

"Hello." I picked up.

"Hello, Alyssa." A voice greeted me.

"Hey, who's this?" I asked. Elena looked over at me mouthing 'who is it?'. I shrugged. I wouldn't have asked if I knew. We stopped walked as we reached the car and I pulled the keys out of my pocket.

"You hit me with your car." The voice answered, making me freeze. My eyes widened with shock. "Is that a new one?" The voice wondered. My jaw dropped and I started frantically looking around. A man in a hoodie was approaching us. "You got away from me. You won't next time." The voice threatened. I quickly hung up and unlocked the car.

"Elena, get in now." I ordered, slamming the door shut. She got in and closed the door.

"What's going on?" She enquired. I switched the engine on, reversed out of the space and sped off down the road, passing the guy in the hoodie.

"The man I hit got a hold of my number. That was him just then." I explained.

* * *

I pulled up at the boarding house and got out of the car as quickly as possible. I opened the door and walked straight into the house.

"Stefan? Damon?" I called out. Stefan walked out of the library.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked concerned.

"The man I hit, he called me and threatened me." I breathed out. "Why me? What does he want with me? A-and if he's trying to kill me, then why call first?" I asked in a rush.

Elena ran in after me. "Stefan, there's a guy aft-" She started.

"I know." He cut her off. "Look, he called first because we're predators, Ally. We hunt. We stalk. It's often as exciting as the kill. I want you to take this." Stefan told me, handing me Jeremy's pocket watch.

"Why do you have Jeremy's pocket watch?" I asked curiously.

"I took it from Damon, who took it from Logan, who must have taken it from you." Stefan shrugged. I opened it and peered at the inside of it.

Elena came and looked at it. "What happened to it?" She asked.

"Well, it's not just a watch. It's a-it's a sort of compass, but it points to vampires." Stefan explained. I pointed it at him and saw the needle go crazy until it finally stopped, pointing in Stefan's direction.

"So, it will tell us when there's a vampire nearby?" I clarified.

"Yes." Stefan answered.

"Why did our father have it?" Elena wondered.

**"**Gilberts were one of the founding families, and back in 1864, they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires. The compass was used to find us."

**"**Did you know them?" I asked.

"Yes. I want you to keep this. That way, you'll know if you're ever in danger."

"Thanks Stef." I smiled at him. He nodded at me before looking at Elena. "I'll be in the car." I excused myself.

* * *

As I walked out I bumped into Damon.

"Hey." I greeted, glancing down at the compass, watching as it went crazy due to being in between two vampires.

"Hey, what are you doing with that?" Damon asked.

"Stefan gave it to me. That guy I hit rang me and threatened me. Stefan said that I would know if I were in danger with this. I can have this, right? Stefan said he got it from you." I explained.

"Uh, yeah, of course you can have it. Wait, so the guy threatened you? What did he say?" Damon asked sounding…protective?

"He said that I got away from him last time but I won't next time." I said quietly.

Damon narrowed his eyes. "If that goes off call me, okay?" He ordered.

I nodded. "I will. Do you think he'll go after Elena as well?" I frowned.

"I don't know. He might as you look exactly the same."

"He saw both of us earlier, so he knows there's two of us."

"Then he'll probably end up wanting both of you." Damon said. The thought made me shiver. "Hey, you're going to be alright. We'll deal with this guy, I promise." Damon assured me as he placed a piece of my hair behind my ear.

"Thank you." I smiled.

* * *

Elena and I walked into the living room where Jenna was dressed in a 50s outfit, happily tidying up.

She turned to us. "Spoke to the insurance company. Car's totalled. You can keep using mine for now." She offered. I nodded.

"So you're coming to the dance?" Elena asked.

Jenna got a big smile on her face. "Alaric asked me to help chaperone." She walked around to the back of the couch and leaned against it, watching as Elena and I walked into the kitchen. I grabbed a glass of water while Elena grabbed an apple and bit into it.

"Why didn't you tell us, Jenna?" Elena asked, referring to the adoption.

Jenna looked startled by the change of topic but quickly composed herself. "Your mom was gonna do it eventually. I never thought I'd have to." She sighed.

"If my mom were here right now and we asked, she'd tell us the truth." Elena stated.

Jenna looked at us and then sighed again. "Your dad was about to leave the office one night when this girl showed up. She was 16, a runaway, and about to give birth. He delivered her babies, and he gave her a place to stay, but a few days later, she disappeared. And there you were. Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby. It just wasn't happening and then along came the two of you. All Miranda ever wanted was to be a mom."

"Well, why were our parents' names on the birth certificate?" Elena questioned.

"Your dad was a doctor, Elena. He took care of it. They didn't wanna lose you, so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible, but if anyone ever wanted proof, they had documentation." Jenna shrugged.

"I told you." I said to Elena. "What else do you know about her? The girl?" I asked, wanting to know more about our mother.

"Just her name. Isobel." Jenna replied.

* * *

I was in Elena's room, adding the finishing touches to my 50s outfit. I had a turquoise dress with white spots on it which was fitted at the top and flared out at the waist. My earrings were the same colour and flower shaped. I wore my vervain bracelet and a big silver and turquoise ring. I had put my fringe into a quiff and tied the rest of my hair up into a ponytail. My eye makeup was white on the inside of my eyelid and eventually got darker towards the edge. I put on a light pink lipgloss and slipped on a pair of turquoise heels. Elena was still blow drying her hair, so I took a seat on her bed. As soon as she was satisfied with her hair, she turned the dryer off and walked out of the bathroom. She opened her wardrobe and retrieved a pink scarf from a hanger. I heard a faint shuffling sound and my eyes flickered over to the vampire compass. Its needle was spinning. I grabbed it and got up, picking my phone up and dialling Damon's number.

"Elena, the compass is spinning." I warned my sister, who's eyes widened.

"Alyssa, are you okay?" Damon asked as soon as he answered.

"The compass is spinning." I told him, my tone laced with worry.

"Don't worry it's just Stefan. He left a while ago." Damon assured me.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. "Just Stefan. Thank god." I said looking at Elena who also let out a sigh of relief.

"You going to be alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, thank you." I replied.

"Anytime, night." He said as he hung up. We walked downstairs to wait for Stefan.

"At least it's just Stef." I muttered. Out of nowhere someone jumped down from the ceiling and landed in front of me, making me scream.

"Alyssa!" Elena yelled. She was halfway down the stairs. I turned to run but was grabbed by the man, who extended his fangs and was about to bite me. I screamed again and waited for his teeth to pierce my neck but they never came. Stefan ran in and pulled the man off of me and threw him over the couch. I fell backwards onto the floor and Elena rushed over to me and hugged me. Stefan looked at us with worry but was distracted by the man grunting and getting up. He ran out at vamp-speed. Stefan made sure that the man wasn't going to return.

"Ally, are you okay?" Elena asked, helping me up. I nodded and shakily got up.

* * *

"Is she okay?!" Damon asked as he walked through the front door. I snapped my head up in his direction and threw myself at him, still shaking. He wrapped his arms around me tightly. "It's okay, you're safe now." He whispered as he placed a kiss on the top of my head. "How did he get in?" Damon asked Stefan as he rested his head on top of mine.

"He was invited in." Elena sighed.

"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan expanded.

"Well, he gets points for that. Did he say what he wanted?" Damon enquired.

"No. He was too busy trying to kill my sister." Elena snapped.

"Elena calm down." I said, pulling away from the hug just enough so that I could see Stefan and Elena. I saw her relax a little and gave her a grateful smile.

"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan questioned Damon with a suspicious look.

"No. Don't look at me like that. I told you we had company." Damon rolled his eyes.

I looked up at Damon. "You think there's more than one?" I asked. He looked down at me and sighed.

"We don't know."

"Damon, he was invited in." Stefan stated.

Damon nodded. "Then we go get him tonight." He looked back at me. "You up for it?"

"What do I have to do?" I asked.

"Go to the dance. We'll see who shows up." Damon grinned.

Stefan shook his head. "That's a bad idea."

"Until we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it. It's worth a shot."

I made up my mind. "I'll do it." Stefan looked anxious and so did Elena. "Elena will be with you and I'll be with Damon. With the two of you, we'll be safe." I told Stefan in a calm tone. Stefan sighed and nodded while Damon smirked at me.

"Looks like I'll be your date, Miss Gilbert." He chuckled, making me smile.

* * *

Elena and I were standing by the punch. Elena was fidgeting nervously with her earring.

"It'll be okay, Lena. Stefan and Damon will deal with it." I tried to calm her down.

She turned round to face me. "When did you and Damon get so close? What happened in Georgia, Alyssa?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

I blushed and looked away from her. "Nothing. I just…understand him better than you do. Besides, he's always been nice to me and he's saved me a lot." I shrugged.

"He used you as leverage to get his ring back." She pointed out.

"But he didn't hurt me, his threats weren't real." I argued. Caroline and Bonnie came over to us, saving us from any further arguing.

"Having fun?" Elena asked.

Caroline pouted. "No, but this took about 2 hours, so I'm at least staying half of that." She declared, making Elena and I laugh. I noticed Bonnie looking across the room at something and followed her gaze. "What's Damon doing here?" She asked with a tone of annoyance. I groaned, not her as well. Wow, I've become a lot more protective of Damon…well, with my friends anyway.

"Look, he's here for me. He'll behave." I sighed. Bonnie raised an eyebrow at me.

"So, what is this, like, a foursome now, you guys and the Salvatore brothers?" Caroline scoffed. I rolled my eyes at her.

"No, but if I'm gonna be with Stefan, I have to learn to tolerate Damon. It's not like I can kill him." Elena told the blonde.

"And I actually like having Damon around." Caroline and Bonnie gave me a look that was a mixture between shock and disgust. "What? Just because you don't like him doesn't mean I can't like him." I said defensively.

"Well, I think you're crazy but whatever." Caroline shrugged. I just ignored her comment and looked away. My eyes met Damon's as he walked over to us.

* * *

As Damon reached us he held a hand out to me.

"Would you like to dance?" He grinned at me.

"As long as you show me some moves." I giggled.

Damon smirked. "We'll see." He pulled me to the dance floor, twirled me around, placed his hands on my hips, and brought me close to him.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and we started swaying to the music. "Do you think he'll show?" I asked, looking up at Damon.

"Yes. Can you see him anywhere?" He replied.

I looked around the room and shook my head. "No. I wish we knew why he wants me. I mean, it's too coincidental for me to just be his choice of meal. Do you think this may have something to do with Katherine?" I asked.

"It could be, or it could just be a coincidence." Damon shrugged.

"Teach me some moves." I demanded, wanting to get off of the topic. A fast song came on and Damon surprised me by picking me up and dipping me one side of him, and then dipping me the other side of him. This time he held me in the dip for a while and smirked down at me. He then brought me back up and place me on the ground.

"That's all you're getting." He said, tapping me on the nose.

I laughed. "Impressive." I commented. He rolled his eyes at me and grabbed my hand, pulling me off of the dance floor.

* * *

We stood off to the side and watched out for the guy. Mr Saltzman walked over to us. He looked at Damon and noticed that he was too old to be a student.

"Yeah, I don't recognise you. How'd you get roped into chaperoning?" Mr Saltzman chuckled. "Alaric Saltzman. I'm the new history teacher." He introduced himself and shook Damon's hand. "Hey Alyssa."

"Hi Mr Saltzman. You look very retro." I said with a laugh.

"Thanks."

"Ah, the, uh, cursed faculty position." Damon spoke up.

"So I've been told."

"Damon Salvatore."

"Salvatore, as in, uh, Stefan?" Mr Saltzman enquired.

"He's my little brother. I'm his legal guardian, hence the chaperoning. That, and I'm looking out for this one." Damon smirked, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him.

My teacher's eyes flickered to Damon's arm before moving away. He looked worried. "I hear Stefan's very bright, not that I've had a chance to see for myself."

"Well, his attendance record's a little spotty. Family drama." Damon rolled his eyes at the words 'family drama'.

"No parents?"

Damon shook his head. "It's just the two of us now."

"You, uh, you live here your whole life?"

Damon shrugged. "On and off. Travel a bit."

"Really? Where? Around the states?" Mr Saltzman asked. Damon looked at him with raised eyebrows. Why was he asking so many questions? "Heh. I'm sorry. I'm nosy. I-I don't mean to pry. Look, it was nice meeting you."

"You too."

Mr Saltzman patted Damon's arm. "You two enjoy the rest of the dance." He said before leaving.

Damon looked at me. "What was that about?"

"I have no idea but it seemed like he knew something." I frowned. I watch Mr Saltzman walking off and noticed a figure in a black hoodie. "Damon, over there." I murmured quietly.

His eyes flickered to my worried face and then over to the guy. "Go and get Stefan." He ordered.

* * *

I was walking around trying to look for Stefan when my phone went off.

"Hello, Alyssa." The voice said. It was him. "Here's what you're going to do." I looked for the guy. "There's an exit door behind you. You have 5 seconds."

"No." I refused.

"Or your brother dies." I stopped walking and looked over at Jeremy. The man was standing near him. "I can snap his neck so fast I bet there's not even a witness. Now, start walking."

I started walking backwards to the exit, watching the guy. "Don't you dare touch him."

"Keep walking. Through the door." I continued walking backwards, watching the guy. He passed Jeremy without touching him and walked after me. I ran out of the hall and down the corridor. I turned down another corridor and came to a set of doors. I attempted to open the doors but they were chained shut. I turned back around and saw the man walking towards me. I let out a gasp and rushed down the corridor to the cafeteria. I ran to the other side of the room and tried to open another set of doors, which again wouldn't open. I let out a growl of frustration and jumped as the guy slammed the doors of the cafeteria open. Before I could move, he ran at vamp-speed towards me. I tried to run but the man grabbed me by my hair, making me scream from the pain. I struggled to get away but he pulled me to him and then threw me across the room. I screamed loudly and landed on the floor with a loud thud. The man walked towards me while I scrambled to get up and grab some pencils from the floor. He picked me and pinned me against a wall, getting ready to bite me. I stabbed him in the stomach with a pencil, causing him to bend over, allowing me to escape. He pulled the pencil out of his stomach and made his way over to me. I lifted my arm up to stab him again but he put his hand in the way, resulting in the pencil going through his hand. He looked down at his hand and I took the chance to stab him a third time and push him to the floor. As he struggled to get up, I walked backwards and ended up bumping into a mop and bucket. I span around and grabbed the mop. I used my knee to break the handle in two to create a stake. The man started to advance towards me so I tried to stab him with the stake. However, he was too quick and grabbed my wrist. He took the stake out of my hand and tossed it aside and went to bite my neck again.

"Damon!" I screamed. Before the man could bite me Stefan ripped him away from me and threw him to the ground. The man got up. A pair of arms wrapped around me in a hug, making me jump.

"You're okay now, Ally." Elena whispered.

"Hey, dickhead." I heard someone call. It was Damon. He had a stake in his hand. "Nobody wants to kill you. We just wanna talk." The guy smirked and ran towards me and Elena. Damon threw the stake to Stefan, who caught it and stabbed the man in the stomach. He grunted and fell to the floor. Elena had gone to stand with Stefan and Damon walked over to me. I buried my face in his chest while he stroked my hair in a soothing manner. I turned my head to look at the man and saw Stefan glaring at him.

"Now you feel like talkin'?" Stefan asked.

"Screw you." The man spat. Stefan dug the stake in deeper, making the man groan in pain.

"Wrong answer. Why are you doing this?" Stefan growled.

"Because it's fun." The man smirked. Stefan dug the stake in a little further.

"What do you want with Alyssa?" Stefan asked.

The man looked at me with a smug grin. "She looks like Katherine."

"So does Elena…" I mumbled.

"But you look _exactly _like her." The man replied. Guess he's referring to my hair…

"You knew Katherine?" Damon asked.

The man snickered. "Oh. You thought you were the only ones." He laughed but let out a gasp when Stefan drove the stake in further. "You don't even remember me."

"Tell me how to get in the tomb." Damon demanded.

"No." The man hissed. Stefan leaned back and drove the stake into him again. "The grimoire." The man struggled to breathe.

"Where is it?" Damon asked.

"Check the journal. The journal. Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's."

"Who else is working with you?" Damon asked. "Who else is there?" He repeated.

"No. You're gonna have to kill me." The man told him. Damon looked over at Stefan and nodded. Stefan took the stake out and pierced it through the man's heart. Elena gasped and span around whilst I buried my face in Damon's chest again. I heard the body fall to the ground.

"What do we-how are you gonna find the others now?" Elena asked quietly, slowly turning around.

"He had to die." Damon stated.

"But…"

"Elena, he's been invited in." Stefan said. We heard a door open and saw Mr Saltzman through one of the windows.

"Go. I got this." Stefan told Damon. Damon nodded and walked out. Stefan dragged the man's body away and I went over to Elena and hugged her tightly.

* * *

Elena and I were sat on the couch quietly. Stefan made us some tea to calm us down.

"Doing ok?" He asked from the kitchen.

"Oddly enough, yes." I answered.

"Really?"

"I was scared at first but…I feel safe with you and Damon. Thank you, by the way." I smiled at him.

"You're welcome." Stefan smiled back. He walked over to us and passed us a mug of tea each. "I need to tell you something, and I don't know how you're gonna feel about it."

"What?" Elena asked.

"I told Damon that I'd help him get into that tomb to get Katherine back. But it was a lie. I let him believe that he could trust me." Stefan admitted.

"Why can't you just let him have Katherine back? He obviously loves her." I sighed.

"It just can't happen, Alyssa. I was worried about telling you because I know you two have bonded lately and I need to know that you'll go along with this."

"Why do you want him to have Katherine back when you obviously have feelings for him?" Elena questioned.

I turned to her with a look of surprise. "What?"

"I don't know what happened on that road trip but I've seen the way you are with him and I know something happened. I can see that you have feelings for him Ally. If he gets Katherine back he'll leave, you do know that right?"

"I-I…He loves Katherine, Elena. I can't change that and I will not be her replacement. If he gets Katherine back he'll be happy and they'll leave which works for Stefan."

Stefan shook his head at me. "Alyssa, I don't want to be his enemy, and I want my brother to leave, but I can't let him do it."

"I'll help you." Elena said.

"Alyssa?" Stefan asked me.

"I can't. I'm sorry." I said, getting up and walking upstairs to my room.

**Getting good at updating! Enjoy :)**


	13. Children of the Damned

**Alyssa's POV**

I woke up in a surprisingly good mood this morning. I finally came to terms with the fact that I liked Damon and that he was about to get back the girl he loved. Does it hurt? Yes, but at least he'll be happy. I felt free of drama, seeing as my vampire stalker had been dealt with. I just hope there's no more vampires after me. I walked into the kitchen and found Jeremy eating breakfast.

"Morning Jerbear!" I grinned at the use of his old nickname.

Jeremy groaned. "You're not seriously going to start calling me that again are you."

I skipped over to him. "Yes, I am because I'm your big sister and it's my duty to tease you." I giggled, pulling on his cheek.

He rolled his eyes at me but I could tell that he was fighting back a grin. "You're in a good mood." He commented.

"Yeah, I'm kinda just going along with it." I shrugged.

Jeremy stood up. "Well, I'm going upstairs." He said as he walked out.

* * *

After watching TV for a while, I got thirsty and went to get a drink. I was also slightly curious as to why Elena had walked by with some boxes a few times. She was going through them while Stefan sat and watched her. I grabbed a glass of water, leaned against the kitchen counter and turned to Elena.

"What's the deal with all of the boxes?" I asked.

Elena looked at me. "We're looking for the old Gilbert journals." She told me. She then turned to Stefan. "Do you think Damon really believes us? That we're both trying to help him?"

Stefan sighed. "I don't think Damon knows what to believe. Trust isn't something that comes naturally to him."

"And even though you know that, you're still going to betray him?" I asked, slightly angry at Stefan.

"I have no choice, Alyssa."

Elena prevented me from replying. "You know...I really think that Damon believes that everything he's done, every move that he's made, he's done for love. It's twisted, but kind of sad."

Stefan scoffed at this. "There are other ways to get what you want. You don't have to kill people. Damon has no regard for human life. He enjoys inflicting pain on others. For 145 years, every single time that I have let my guard down and let Damon back into my life, he's done something to make me regret that. I'm not going to make that mistake again."

"So, what do you think will happen if the tomb gets opened and Damon gets Katherine back?"

"I think that no matter what Damon promises, a lot of people will die."

"You don't know that." I stated.

"I'm not risking it." He replied. Elena sighed and picked up a photo. Stefan walked over to look at it.

"That's Jonathan Gilbert." Stefan muttered to himself.

Elena looked down into the box and picked up what appeared to be some sort of muzzle. A puzzled look crossed her face. I'm pretty sure I was wearing a look that was identical to hers. "What's this?"

Jeremy walked into the room. "What are you guys doing?" He asked curiously.

Elena smiled at him. "Hey. Just going through some stuff, feeling sentimental. Dad had this old family journal from years ago. I thought I'd dig it up."

Jeremy sat on the counter next to me. "Jonathan Gilbert's journal?" We all looked at him.

"Yeah, what do you know about it?" Elena enquired.

"I just did a history report on it." Jeremy answered.

"Oh. So where is it now?"

"I gave it to Mr. Saltzman. He wanted to see it." Elena and Stefan exchanged looks and it wasn't long before Stefan left.

* * *

There was a knock on the front door and I went to answer it. I raised a questioning brow at the person behind it.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"It's lovely to see you too, Alyssa." Damon smirked. "I'm making dinner." He walked passed me and into the house.

"Okay?"

* * *

Damon was slicing a tomato and talking to Jenna, who was currently sitting on the counter with a glass of wine in her hand. I hadn't spoken to him since I answered the door. I was afraid that if I did talk to him, I would end up telling him about Elena and Stefan betraying him. Needless to say my good mood has gone up in smoke and been replaced by guilt. The fact that he kept glancing at me didn't help.

"My father never approved of anyone I dated, which only made me want them more. Of course. What about you?" Damon smirked at Jenna.

"There were a few guys. Logan isn't the only loser I've dated." Jenna admitted.

"They ever find him? Or is he still missing?"

"He's not missing. He's in the Bahamas working on his tan. Very entitled, that one. Marches to his own drum." Jenna drank the rest of her wine. "He's a Fell. They're all snooty." She grinned.

Damon chuckled and walked over to her, pouring more wine into her glass. He then walked back to where he was cooking. "Hello, Elena." He greeted as she walked around the corner. Okay, I have to get out of here.

"You know what? I said I'd meet Caroline at the Grill. Gotta go, sorry." I pretended as if it had slipped my mind and I had only just remembered.

"Okay, don't be too late." Jenna replied.

"I won't." I said before rushing out. When I got outside I let out a sigh of relief. I began walking down the road when all of a sudden a hand reached out and placed itself over my mouth, covering my screams. I struggled against whoever was holding me but I couldn't get free.

* * *

I woke up with a gasp and put my hand to my head. I pulled it back when I felt some warm and sticky on it and saw that it was blood. I tried to recall what happened but all I could remember was someone grabbing me and slamming my head into something. That explains the blood. I looked around and noticed that I was in some sort of motel room. I looked for my phone and cursed myself when I realised that I left it at home. I got up, feeling slightly dizzy, and walked to the door. I tried to open it but it was locked.

"It's no use. You can't get out." A voice said from behind me. I gasped and turned around. A young girl stood before me. "I'm Anna and you're going to help me get what I want."

"How? I don't even know what you want." My voice shook.

"I'll tell Damon that I have you and he'll do whatever it takes to get you back." She smirked.

"No he won't."

"Yes he will. Trust me."

I decided to change the subject. "What do you want?" I asked.

"I want him to work with me. I want that tomb opened." Anna shrugged.

"So ask him." I suggested.

"He wouldn't work with me, that's why I have you." She smirked. She got out her phone and began typing. "Hey Jeremy. You free to meet me at the Grill?" She read out.

My eyes widened. "How do you know my brother?"

"I'm practically dating him." She sneered.

"Don't hurt him."

"I won't. He's just my cover." Anna walked over to the cupboard and grabbed a bag. She grabbed my arm and dragged me over to a chair. She pushed me down onto it and used her vampire speed to tie my wrists to the arms of the chair with rope. She then tied my ankles to the legs of the chair.

I struggled to get loose but the ropes were too tight. "What are you doing?!" I hissed through gritted teeth. Anna ignored me and tied a piece of cloth around my mouth to shut me up, which I found very rude.

"Making sure no one finds you while I'm gone." She explained, walking over and closing the curtains. "See you later!" She cheered and walked out and locked the door behind her. Great, now what do I do? And why am I always the one who gets into these situations?

* * *

**3rd Person POV**

Damon watched as Jeremy and Anna played pool. He had just realised who Anna was and had a feeling she was here for the same reason as he was.

"I'm just going to get a drink." He heard Anna say to Jeremy. The girl walked over to the bar and stopped by his seat. Anna decided to get right to it.

"I have your pretty little girlfriend and I'm not giving her back until you give me what I want." She smirked at Damon.

Damon narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Didn't she say she was meeting Caroline at the Grill?" Anna looked around. "I don't see her anywhere."

"If you've hurt her…" Damon warned.

"Only a little, just a small blow to the head."

"What do you want?"

Anna grinned. "I want you to help me."

"With?" Damon questioned.

"You know what." Anna looked back at Jeremy. "Give me a minute." She walked back over to Jeremy. "Hey, I have to go. Something's come up. Sorry."

"Oh no, that's cool." Jeremy smiled at her.

"Bye." She waved and walked out. Damon saw Anna leave and followed her.

* * *

The pair walked away from the Grill and stopped in an alley way.

"How long have you been here?" Damon enquired.

"I arrived around half-past comet, watching you screw up every chance you had to open that tomb." Anna answered.

Damon gritted his teeth. "How did you know about the spell?"

"I didn't say much back then, which means I heard everything."

Damon moved closer to her to try and intimidate her. "So if you've been here the whole time, then why are we just crossing paths right now?"

Anna shrugged. "I like to use others to do my dirty work."

"Like Logan Fell? Oh, yeah, thanks for that, by the way. Little bastard shot me."

"Logan was an idiot." Damon had to agree with that. "We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser slayer with that compass. I needed his family's journal. I couldn't let him die."

"What'd you want with the Fell journal?"

"I thought it contained the location of the witch's spell book. I was wrong. According to her journal, Honoria gave the grimoire to Jonathan Gilbert. And, according to this…" Anna pulled out the Gilbert journal from her bag. "He gave it to your father. So now you're going to help me find it." Anna passed the journal to Damon, who quickly read the page she opened it on. He then snapped the book shut.

"Take me to Alyssa." Damon demanded.

"Say you'll help me."

"Fine."

"Then follow me."

* * *

**Alyssa's POV**

I heard the door unlock and saw Anna walk in with Damon behind her. Relief washed over to me as Damon rushed over to me and untied the cloth and ropes.

"Damon!" I exclaimed happily as soon as he took the cloth off of my mouth.

"Did you really feel the need to tie her to a chair and gag her?" He asked Anna, sounding extremely annoyed.

"I couldn't risk her being found." Anna replied.

Damon rolled his eyes and looked at the cut on my head. "How you feeling?" He asked me.

"I'm okay." I answered with a small smile. Damon picked me up and held on to me tightly. "What are you doing?"

Damon turned to Anna with a smirk. "Sorry, but I work alone." And with that he took off.

* * *

He came to a stop at the woods and put me down.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"Doesn't matter." He responded.

I realised that he had just saved me…again. I took a deep breath. "You can't trust Stefan and Elena." I said in a rush.

"What?"

"Stefan said that he couldn't let you have Katherine back and Elena is helping him. But I swear I had nothing to do with it, I promise. I didn't want to lie to you." I explained.

"Let's go." Damon murmured, grabbing my hand and dragging me into the woods.

"What are you doing?" I asked, a bit scared.

"I'm getting what I want."

* * *

We found Elena and Stefan in the middle of the woods. The was a big pile of dirt beside them and Stefan was looking through a big, old looking book.

"Well, what do you know?" Damon snarled. "This is an interesting turn of events." I saw Elena's eyes flicker over to me. They were filled with worry, probably because Damon was furious and I was stood right next to him.

Stefan frowned. "I can't let you bring her back. I'm sorry."

"So am I. For thinking for even a second that I could trust you." Damon snapped.

"Oh, you're not capable of trust. The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself."

"Of course I was going to do it by myself, because the only one I can count on is me! You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan. But you…" Damon turned to Elena. "You had me fooled." Damon admitted, looking hurt. Elena looked down, ashamed. "So, what are you going to do now? Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out." Damon nodded his head at me. My head snapped to him. He wouldn't seriously kill me, right?

"You won't kill her." Stefan stated.

Damon nodded at him. "You're right." He grabbed me in a chokehold, making me gasp. My hands flew up to his arm and grabbed it. "I can do one better." He bit into his wrist and forced me to drink his blood. I struggled against him but he was too strong. Elena cried out and begged him to stop. "Give me the book, Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck and you and I will have a vampire girlfriend to play with." Damon threatened.

"Let her go first." Stefan said.

Damon pulled his wrist away from my mouth. "The book!"

"Just give him the book, Stefan!" Elena cried.

"I'm not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me." Stefan stated.

"Problem is, I no longer trust that you'll give it back!"

"You just did the something that ensures that I will." Damon nodded. "Okay." Stefan said calmly. He slowly placed the book on the ground.

Damon buried his face in my hair and kissed the top of my head. "I'm sorry." He whispered before slowly taking his arm away from me. I slowly stepped forward, checking that Damon wouldn't grab me again, and then threw myself into my sister's awaiting arms, sobbing quietly. Elena moved us behind Stefan. I glanced at Damon, who was looking at me. He saw how scared I was. His eyes held regret and worry. Stefan guided Elena and I out of the woods.

* * *

Elena had gone upstairs to search for some aspirin for me. I was sat on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket while Stefan had an arm around me.

"He said he was sorry." I whispered.

"I know." Stefan replied.

"Did he mean it?"

"I think he did."

"Where is Elena with that aspirin? Is my head supposed to hurt like this?" I groaned.

"You'll be fine. That was just a small amount of blood. It should pass out of your system by tomorrow."

"At least my cut is healed. He saved me again tonight, you know."

"Saved you?" Stefan asked.

"A girl named Anna kidnapped me. Damon saved me." I informed him.

"Anna?"

"She knows Jeremy and she met with him tonight. Hopefully, she'll leave him alone from now on. She said she wanted to open the tomb." I sighed. I looked up at Stefan and saw a look of realisation on his face. "Do you know her?"

"She lived in Mystic Falls in 1864." Stefan said more to himself than me. Jenna walked in.

"Where's Elena?" She asked, looking at us suspiciously. I realised that the position we were in looked suspicious.

"Upstairs getting me some aspirin. I tripped and grazed my head. Nothing too serious. It looks worse than it is." I explained after seeing her examine the blood on my forehead.

"You sure?" She asked, worried.

"Yeah."

"Oh, the aspirin is down here actually."

Jeremy walked in. "Oh, hey, Stefan." He greeted and then saw me. "Woah, what happened to you?" He asked, alarmed by the blood on my head.

"It's nothing! I fell and grazed my head." I replied.

Jeremy nodded. "Okay." He looked around and turned to Jenna, who was handing me some aspirin and a glass of water. "Where'd she go?"

"She went to the bathroom." Jenna answered.

"Where'd who go?" I asked, worried that it might be Anna.

"He has a friend over."

"Anna." Jeremy said. My eyes widened as I looked at Stefan, who had the exact same expression as me. He snapped out of it and ran upstairs. I quickly ran after him. When I reached Elena's room Stefan turned to me.

"She's gone."

**So, will Alyssa forgive Damon? And will she and Stefan be able to save Elena? Can she convince Damon to help? Find out in the next chapter! :)**


	14. Fool Me Once

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry for the long wait. I've been on holiday so I haven't had any time to write and post any chapters! Anyways, after a long a couple of weeks, here's the next chapter :)**

* * *

**Alyssa's POV**

"Why would Anna take her? She already took me and it didn't work!" I was pacing around the room, panicking.

"She probably thought she'd try her luck again." Stefan ran a hand over his face. "She kept you in a room in a motel, right? Did you see where she took you?"

"No, she knocked me out and when Damon came and got me he ran to the woods. I didn't exactly have the chance to wonder around!" I snapped. I realised that was kind of harsh. "Sorry, I'm just worried."

"I know, don't worry about it."

"Why don't we ask Damon?" Stefan gave me an 'are you serious' look. "It's worth a shot! Besides, it's not like we have any other options."

He sighed. "Alright, I'll ask him. Get some sleep."

"What? No way. My sister's missing. Do you really think I can sleep?"

"I'll look for her while you get some rest." Stefan replied before he walked out of the room.

* * *

I didn't sleep a bit last night. I was constantly tossing and turning, worried about my sister. I stormed up to the Salvatore boarding house and walked in. "Stefan?" I called out.

"I'm here." He answered as he walked through the front door.

"You've only just got back?" I asked. He nodded. "Did you ask him?"

"Not yet. C'mon." Stefan ushered me through the house to where Damon was. Damon was sat reading through the book we found last night. "Anna took Elena."

Damon rolled his eyes but didn't look up at us. "Yeah, I got that from your 600 voicemails."

Stefan narrowed his gaze and walked over to Damon. "Damon, all night long, every single street in town, I've been searching. Please, What do you know? You saved Alyssa, which means that you must know where Anna's living. Just tell me where I can find her." Stefan pleaded.

Damon looked up and gave us a cold look. "Nope. You can go. Really."

Stefan sighed. "You know, all I can remember is hating you. There might have been a time when that was different, but your choices have erased anything good about you." Damon put the book down and looked at Stefan. "But see, I also know you have just as much reason to hate me. This all began with me. Katherine got taken away from you because of me. And I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted."

"So please, just tell us what you know." Stefan pleaded. "It's Elena, Damon. If you know something, tell me."

Damon stood up. "I mean this sincerely." He started. Stefan leaned forward slightly, anticipating his answer. "I hope Elena dies."

I let out a gasp as Damon walked past me. I turned around to face him. "How could you say that?! She's my sister, Damon. You nearly killed me last night, you owe me." I yelled at him.

He turned around, walked over to me and got in my face. "I owe you nothing. Do you know how many times I've saved your life, even though I didn't have to?"

I stayed quiet, knowing he was right. "Please?" I whispered. Damon shook his head and walked out of the room.

Stefan walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "We'll find her."

* * *

Stefan and I had been pacing around, trying to figure out what to do when we heard a ringing noise.

Stefan answered it immediately. "Elena? Are you okay?" A look of crossed Stefan's features. Damon walked in and stood beside me, clearly listening in on Stefan's conversation. "I can get it." Stefan said confidently. If he's talking about the book Damon's been holding on to, he'll have a tough job getting it away from his brother. Stefan eventually hung up and turned to me. "She's got Bonnie as well."

"What?!" I yelled. Stefan looked pleadingly at Damon.

"Go ahead, grovel again. Oh, wait no...I don't care." Damon smirked and walked out of the room.

Stefan let out a growl of frustration. "What do we do now?"

"Well, I have an idea." Stefan looked over at me. "We could go and ask Bonnie's Grams if she could help." I suggested.

Stefan nodded his head. "Good idea, let's go."

* * *

I knocked on the door of Sheila Bennett's home. The door opened to reveal Grams.

"Alyssa, what are you doing here?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at Stefan.

"Bonnie and Elena have been kidnapped. Stefan's looked everywhere for them! We were wondering if you could help?" I asked hopefully.

"You'd better come inside."

Stefan looked surprised at the invitation. "Really?"

Sheila chuckled. "I know I can trust you." We walked in and sat down while Grams started to concentrate on a spell.

"How will you find them?" I enquired curiously.

"It's called a locater spell." She answered.

"Well, that's an awfully handy spell to have." I commented, making Grams chuckle.

* * *

Stefan and I were on our way to get Elena and Bonnie.

"Do you think she's hurt them?" I asked, the worry clear in my voice.

"Hopefully not." Stefan sighed.

"Elena and I are magnets for trouble." I groaned.

Stefan chuckled slightly. "Yep." He pulled up to the place and stopped the car. He rushed off without waiting for me, which I didn't really appreciate. I got out of the car and started running in the direction Stefan went in, only to be met by Bonnie and Elena.

"Alyssa!" They both called out with big smiles. The attacked me with big hugs.

"Are you okay?" I asked. I felt them both nod. "C'mon, the car's this way."

* * *

"So, what do we do now?" Elena asked as we all sat in Bonnie's Grams' house.

"Well, for now, you need to stay here." Stefan told us.

"A prisoner in my own home? I don't think so." Grams refused.

Stefan shook his head. "I can't protect you if you leave the house."

"We'll protect ourselves."

Elena sighed. "We need to let him have Katherine back. He's not going to stop until he gets her. If we help him, maybe that ends it."

"I've been telling you this the entire time." I growled, frustrated that my sister had only just figured that out.

"No! He doesn't deserve to get what he wants." Bonnie protested.

Elena frowned and looked defeated. "What other choice do we have?" She looked over at Stefan.

"Witches being pulled down by vampire problems, as much as we try to stay out of it." Grams muttered. "I'll open the tomb. You get your brother's girl and destroy the rest with fire. Then this will be all over."

"We still have to get Damon to agree." Stefan said, looking at me.

"Why are you looking at me?" I enquired in a bored tone.

Stefan shrugged. "You're the only one he'll listen to."

"Fine."

* * *

I walked into the Salvatore Boarding house and found Damon putting a jacket on, preparing to leave.

He rolled his eyes at the sight of me. "I'm gonna have to change the locks." He grabbed the grimoire.

"Stefan saved Elena and Bonnie." I told him quietly.

"Like I said before; I don't care."

"I persuaded Bonnie to help you." Damon gave me a look of disbelief. "I did!"

"Not interested." Damon stated, going to leave.

I spoke up quickly. "Yes, you are, because you were willing to work with everyone yesterday."

He stopped and turned around to face me. "Fool me once, shame on you."

"I didn't fool you. I wasn't in on it. I was the one who told you that they were going behind your back." I told him, wanting to make the fact that I didn't betray him clear. He didn't say anything. "Look Damon, I'm not asking you to trust Stefan and Elena, or even Bonnie and Grams. I'm asking you to trust me, you do trust me, right?" I asked softly, walking over to stand in front of him.

He looked at me for a moment. "How do I know that you aren't in on it this time?" Damon questioned with a guarded look.

I took a deep breath and decided to do whatever it took to make him believe me. Which was to admit my feelings, more or less. "I'm not going to lie to you, Damon. I feel something for you and I know that you know that. But, if you still don't feel that you can trust me," I took my vervain bracelet off and placed it on the table. "Then you can compel me to tell you the truth."

Damon glanced at the bracelet. "If you feel something for me, why do you want me to get Katherine back?" He asked curiously.

"Because everything you've done has been out of love. You've done a lot of awful things, but they were all for Katherine. And, everyone deserves happiness. You've waited 145 years for your happiness, it's time that you get it." I shrugged.

Damon picked my bracelet up and put it back on my wrist. He leaned in towards me and kissed my cheek. "Thank you." He whispered before walking away. I placed a hand on the cheek he just kissed and blinked back tears, knowing that I had done the right thing.

* * *

Damon and I arrived at the woods, which was full of drunk teens. Damn, the Duke party.

"The Duke party. I forgot. I hope they stay clear of the church." I sighed.

Damon shrugged. "Your hope, not mine."

"Don't be mean!" I snapped. Caroline and Matt walked up to us.

"Alyssa, hey!" Matt greeted me with a smile.

"Alyssa! Oh my god, where have you, Elena, and Bonnie been? I haven't seen any of you all day!" Caroline exclaimed, lacing her fingers through Matt's. She was obviously trying to show off the fact that she had a new boyfriend to Damon.

Damon rolled his eyes at her. "Long story, no time to tell it."

"I wasn't talking to you." Caroline sneered at him.

"Sure you were."

"We haven't met. I'm Matt." Matt introduced himself, holding his hand out for Damon to shake.

Damon ignored it and wrapped an arm around my waist. "Matt, there's a reason we haven't met." He smirked. He then looked down at me. "You and I are going that way." Damon said, pushing me in the direction of the church.

I looked back at Matt and Caroline. "Sorry guys!" I called out. I looked back at Damon. "There was no need for you to be so rude!"

"They were delaying us."

* * *

When we got to the tomb, Damon whistled to get everyone's attention. "Brother. Elena. Witches." He nodded at them. He walked to them, grimoire in hand, pulling me along with him. Bonnie and Grams walked down the stairs into the tomb.

Grams began lighting the torches that had been set up with Bonnie stood by her while Damon, Elena, Stefan and | watched from the bottom of the stairs. "Air. Earth. Fire."

Bonnie held up a bottle of water. "Water." Grams took it and sprinkled the water on the floor.

"That's it? Just water from the tap?" Elena asked disbelievingly.

Grams raised an eyebrow. "As opposed to what?"

Elena shrugged. "I just figured maybe it would have to be blessed or mystical or something." I let out a quiet snicker as Grams smirked at Elena. Damon pulled a blood bag out of his pocket.

"What's that?" Stefan asked.

"It's for Katherine. Gotta have something to get her going. Unless the girls are offering a vein to tap." Damon smirked, causing Elena and I to glare at him.

Bonnie looked up. "We're ready."

Bonnie and Grams began to recite the spell. They had their eyes shut and held each others hands. The two started chanting in a language I didn't know.

"What are they saying?" Damon asked.

"Sounds Latin." Stefan said.

Elena shook her head. "I don't think it's Latin."

"They probably have their own witchy language." I added. The torches suddenly flared up.

"What's happening?" Elena's voice shook. The door of the tomb started to creak open. The two witches stopped chanting and looked up.

Bonnie's jaw dropped open. "It worked!"

Grams scoffed. "Of course it worked."

Damon turned to Stefan with a smirk. "We have some fires to build."

Stefan looked at Elena and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm gonna go get the gasoline, I'll be right back." Elena nodded and watched Stefan walk upstairs.

Damon looked at me. "You ready?"

I raised a brow at him. "Excuse me?"

"What?" Elena and Bonnie yelled at the same time.

"You think I'm gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" Damon asked, narrowing his gaze at Bonnie and Grams in an accusing manner. He placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Don't take her in. I'll bring the walls down." Grams threatened.

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't. You think I trust you?"

"As much as I trust you."

"It's okay, I'll go. I'm used to being his leverage." I sighed and started walking to the tomb door. Bonnie handed me and flashlight just before I reached the door. "Thanks."

Damon snorted and my comment. "Let's go."

* * *

I heard whispers as we walked through the tomb and began to walk fast in order to stay close to Damon. "Why are they whispering? What are they saying?"

"They can sense you and they're hungry. Now, where is she?" Damon muttered before walking off.

"Hungry…Hey, wait up! Damon!" I called out, panicking about being left alone in a tomb full of hungry vampires. "Damon? Damon!" The whispering continued. It was staring to really freak me out and I wanted nothing more than to be out of the tomb. I tripped over something, dropping my flashlight, and quickly scramble to get up. I looked for my flashlight and saw the light was shining on a mummified vampire. I picked it up and moved the beam of light around the tomb, looking at all the vampires. I started to shake with fear and tripped over, yet again, landing next one of the vampires. The flashlight's light shone on the vampire, who now had his eyes open. They became bloodshot with hunger, causing me to let out a loud scream. I quickly got up and tried to find the exit, only to be met by Anna standing right in front of me.

"You must have a taste for it. You scream and shriek and even bother to escape, but then you just come right back to it." Anna smirked.

"Okay, first of all, I didn't escape. I was saved. Second of all, I'm only here as proof that we aren't double crossing Damon. It's not like I chose to be in a tomb full of mummified vampires who want to eat me." I snapped at her, despite my fear.

Anna shrugged. "Yeah well, your boyfriend isn't here to save you now." My eyes widened as I started walking backwards. I bumped into something, or rather, someone. Anna's eyes filled with recognition as she ran over to the vampire. "Mother! Mother! Your sister's boyfriend did this, you know." Anna spat venomously at me.

I shook my head. "His father did."

Anna stood up and walked over to me. "And Jonathan Gilbert. I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life. I had Jeremy all ready to go but…" Anna trailed off. I let out a small shriek and tried to run out of the tomb. However, I was stopped by Anna appearing in front of me. She grabbed me by the wrist and bit down into it. I let out another scream. Anna then pushed me to the ground by her mother and held my wrist up to her. Anna's mother sank her teeth into my wrist and started drinking eagerly.

I struggled to get away. "No, please don't!" I begged.

Anna ignored me. "I'm gonna get you out." She cooed to her mother. Suddenly, a figure blurred towards us and pushed Anna to the side. "No!"

"Let her go!" The person hissed.

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that it was Stefan. He pulled me up and started pushing me towards the exit. "Thank you!"

"It's okay, but you have to go. Don't worry, I'm right behind you." Stefan replied. I nodded and ran out of the tomb.

* * *

I practically fell out of the tomb and into Elena's arms.

"Thank god you're okay! We heard you scream and I was so scared and-" Elena rambled.

"It's okay, Lena. I'm fine. Stefan saved me." I assured her.

"You guys, Stefan…" Bonnie started but I cut her off.

"Don't worry, he's right behind me." I waved her off. Stefan appeared at the doorway. I found it odd that he stopped there.

Elena frowned and walked over to him. "Stefan, what are you doing?"

"It's gonna be okay. We'll fix it." Bonnie nodded reassuringly at her.

"Fix what?" I asked.

"I can't." Stefan stated.

"Can't? Can't what?" Elena asked alarmed.

"The spell's still up. We can't get them out yet." Bonnie explained.

I let out a gasp. "You went in there not knowing if you could come back out?" It was my fault he was stuck in there. And what about Damon and Katherine? Stefan looked down.

"Oh my god. It's my fault that you're stuck. Stefan, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, I heard you scream and I panicked. I'm glad you're safe though." Stefan gave me a small smile.

Elena placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. She was surprisingly calm about this. "They'll get him out."

"And Damon? We can't leave him in there. He trusted me, Stefan. I can't let him down." I said, close to tears.

Stefan nodded. "I know."

"Even if we're able to break through the seal, we won't be able to hold it for long." Grams warned. Stefan nodded again and went back inside to find Damon.

Grams and Bonnie were reciting the spell to lift the seal as Elena and I stood by the doorway of the tomb. The torches flared up again.

"I think it's working." Elena said, glancing into the tomb.

* * *

Anna appeared in the doorway with her mother, who was still weak. "I just wanted my mother back. Jeremy's fine. He's outside. I won't touch him."

"You better not." I hissed angrily. As they left, the torches began to falter.

"Bonnie, keep going!" Grams told Bonnie. She then looked at us. "They better hurry."

"Stefan, they can't hold it much longer!" Elena called into the tomb.

"I'm not going to just stand around." I looked at Elena. "Stay here."

* * *

I rushed through the tomb, right into the back, and found Stefan and Damon. Damon angrily pushed his brother away while Stefan tried to get him out of the tomb.

"Damon, please. We don't have much time. There's no point being locked in here alone, is there?" I pleaded, tugging on his arm. He looked at me for a second and then let out a defeated growl.

"C'mon." Stefan said, leaving the room. I pulled Damon with me.

We got the entrance of the tomb just as Bonnie and Grams finished chanting. Elena embraced Stefan while I turned to Damon with a look sadness. The torches finally died out as the door to the tomb closed.

Elena, Stefan and I ran out of the tomb to check on Jeremy. I placed his head on my lap as he began to stir.

"He's okay." Stefan confirmed after checking Jeremy over. Damon walked up the stairs with a miserable look on his face.

"Elena, take my place." I said quietly, nodding my head at Damon. She nodded understandingly and switched places with me.

"Damon." I called out as I walked over to him. He turned to me, close to tears. I ran over to him and threw my arms around him, placing my head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry she wasn't in there." He didn't say anything but I knew he appreciated it as I felt his arms wrap around me.

* * *

I was sat on Jeremy's bed with his head on my lap.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, playing with his hair.

"My head kinda hurts but, other than that, I'm fine." He replied.

"Lena's gone to get you some aspirin."

"I wish I knew how I passed out. I didn't drink that much, I swear." I let out a sigh of relief. I was glad that he didn't remember anything. Jeremy must have though it was a sigh of disappointment. "I know how this looks. I'm sorry."

"What? No, Jer you have nothing to be sorry about. That wasn't a sigh of disappointment, it was a sigh of relief. I'm just glad you're okay. And I believe you when you say that you didn't drink much."

It was Jeremy's turn to let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

Elena walked in with the tablets and a glass of water. "I finally found them!" She let out a small chuckle. "Here." She passed them to Jeremy, who had sat up.

"Thanks."

"We've got to head on over to Bonnie's for a little bit, but is there anything that you need?" Elena asked in a motherly way.

"No, I'm just...I'm gonna crash."

"Okay, well, Jenna's here and we'll be back soon."

I got off of the bed. "See you later Jer." I placed a quick kiss on the top of his head and walked out of the room with Elena.

* * *

Elena was outside on the phone to Stefan while Bonnie and I made some tea for Grams.

"How are you both doing?" I asked my friend.

She gave me a weary smile. "Tired. It was a big spell."

"Well, I'm glad you're okay."

"How's your wrist?" She asked, concerned.

"Fine. All bandaged up! See." I lifted my wrist up for her to see. Bonnie smiled and finished making the tea.

We walked into Grams' room and Bonnie placed the cup of tea on the bedside table. "Here you go, Grams." She then pulled the covers over Grams. Bonnie stopped moving and had a frown on her face.

"Bonnie? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Grams?" Bonnie murmured. She sat down on the bed and started shaking Grams. "Grams! Grams, wake up! Grams! Grams!" Bonnie began sobbing violently.

My eyes widened in realisation as I ran over to Bonnie and wrapped my arms around her. "Elena!" I shouted. My twin cam dashing into the room, looking extremely confused.

"Help! Wake up! She's not breathing! She's just not breathing! Please, wake up!" Bonnie yelled, still shaking Grams.

"Elena, call an ambulance!" I ordered. She ran out of the room.

Bonnie stood up and rushed over to the grimoire. "I'm gonna fix it! It's okay, I can fix this!" She muttered to herself.

I walked over to her as she desperately flipped through the pages, trying to find a spell to bring Grams back. I gently placed my hands on her shoulders and pried her away from the book. "Bonnie...Bonnie." I said in a calm voice, turning her around to face me.

"No! No! I can fix it! Grams, I can fix this!" She cried.

"Bonnie! Bonnie! Bonnie!" I said, raising my voice slightly, pulling Bonnie into a hug as she continued to sob. Elena walked back into the room and placed her arms around us.


	15. A Few Good Men

**So, hey guys! I just want to say that I'm so sorry for how long it's taken me to update. I've had a lot going on and I just kind of lost interest for a while. I'm not sure how often I'll update this but I'll try my best. Thank you for all your reviews and for just reading it, I really do appreciate it! Now, onwards with the story :P**

* * *

**Alyssa's POV**

I walked out onto the porch and found an extremely depressed Elena sat on the swing with her journal in her lap. She had her phone held up to her ear.

"Hey Bonnie, it's me just checking in, seeing how you're doing. We miss you here. Don't let your aunt drive you too crazy. Come home soon. Love you. " She said before hanging up and sighing.

I took a seat next to her. "She just needs time, Elena." I said with a gentle tone.

"I know…I just feel so-"

I cut her off, knowing exactly how she was feeling. "I know, me too." I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

"Well, I'm glad I chose to walk out at this moment. I get to witness one of your touching moments." Jenna grinned as she sipped her coffee. "But you should both come inside, it's cold."

Elena nodded. "I know, I was just… thinking, writing. The, uh, funeral for Bonnie's grandma, it brought back a lot about mom and dad."

I nodded my head in agreement. "We both want to be there for Bonnie like she was there for us, but I guess she really just needs to be with her family right now."

"I was wondering... you said that you would do some digging about them, the adoption." Elena started.

"Right." Jenna nodded.

"So, did you? Dig?"

Jenna cocked her head towards the door. "Come on inside." Elena and I stood up and followed Jenna into the dining room. She took a seat at the table and opened her laptop, while Elena and I stood behind her. "Your dad kept everything from his medical practice; records, logs, old appointment books." She pulled out a journal and opened it. On the page was an entry from the night Elena and I were born. "I found an entry from the night you were born. Patient and a birth date. Isobel Peterson."

"Do you think that's her real name?" Elena questioned.

"I doubt it." I replied.

"Pregnant teenage runaway? Probably not. First name, maybe. But where'd she get Peterson? Classmate? Best friend? So I binged it." I scoffed at this. Everyone knows google is the way to go. Jenna typed the name into the search engine. "I searched for all the Petersons in this area born the same year as Isobel, found 3, 2 men and a woman, Trudie, who lived in Grove Hill, Virginia."

"That's pretty close. You think she knows Isobel?" I asked.

"Well, watch this." Jenna said as she typed something else into the search engine. She pulled up an image of a brunette high schooler in a cheerleading uniform. Under the picture the names of the cheerleaders were listed. Two names that caught my eye were Trudie Peterson and Isobel Flemming. A smile made its way to mine and Elena's faces.

"Isobel." We said in unison.

"She was a cheerleader." Elena noted.

"Trudie still lives there." Jenna informed us, passing me a post-it note. On it was an address. "This is her address."

"What about Isobel?" Elena asked.

Jenna shook her head. "I couldn't find anything about her." Elena frowned and sat down next to Jenna.

"Well, it doesn't matter. This is enough to go on, we'll just pay Trudie a visit!" I shrugged, trying to cheer Elena up.

Jenna looked as if she were weighing out the pros and cons of something. Finally, she gave in and said what was on her mind. "Listen girls. There's something else. Mr. Saltzman, Ric, his wife was from around here, and her name was also Isobel."

Our eyes widened in realisation. "Wait. "Was," as in…"

"She died." Jenna said. Elena and I shared a look of disappointment. Then I realised something else.

"Wouldn't that make Alaric our step-dad?" I snickered at the thought.

* * *

I was sat cross legged on Elena's bed next to Stefan, while my sister was putting some clothes away. We were discussing our birth mother.  
"Alaric's wife might have been your mother?" Stefan asked disbelievingly.

"Yup." I answered simply.

Elena being Elena gave a complicated answer. "We don't know that it for sure. I mean, it can't be true, right? It could just be a coincidence."

"That's a pretty hopeful answer." I muttered, earning me a small grin from Stefan, who heard me what with his fancy vampire hearing. Elena turned around and gave me a suspicious look, she had obviously her my muttering but didn't know what I said. I gave her an innocent smile and then showed Stefan the post-it note with Trudie's address on.

"Jenna gave me the address for her friend Trudie, obviously because I'm the more responsible twin."

Elena scoffed. "Yeah right, you wouldn't be able to keep a gold fish alive!"

"Would too!"

Stefan cleared his throat to interrupt our petty squabbling. "So, you guys want to talk to her?"

"Well, I do." I answered, looking to Elena for her answer.

"I don't know." Elena said reluctantly. "If it's true and Alaric's wife and our birth mother are the same person, that means that our birth mother is dead, and I don't know if I could handle that."

"Did Jenna tell you anything about Alaric's wife? How she died?" Stefan wondered.

"Not really. Why? Do you know something?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Stefan looked at me and sighed. "The night at the school when he attacked me, he told me some things about her death."

"Well-" Elena was cut off by Stefan.

"No, no. It's not possible. The coincidence is… it's too much. Now, listen, if the two of you do decide to go talk to Isobel's friend, I'll go with you. Okay?" Stefan said calmly.

I nodded and smiled at him. "Thanks Stef."

"We still don't know what we're going to do yet." Elena threw me a warning look.

"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes at her. Elena wrapped her arms around Stefan's neck and they embrace each other lovingly.

"Well, that's my cue to leave." I got up and walked towards Elena's door. I stopped and looked back at the couple.

"How's Damon doing?" I asked, feeling very concerned for him.

Stefan looked as though he was choosing his words very carefully. "He's fine. He's dealing in his own way."

* * *

The next day Elena and I were on our way to Trudie's house. I pulled up outside the house that was supposedly Trudie's. As I turned the inanition off I turned to Elena. "You ready?"

"No, not really." She took a deep breath. "But it's now or never." I nodded in agreement and got out of the car. We walked up the path to the door. Elena lifted her hand up and knocked on the door. After a moment, she spoke up. "Maybe this was a bad idea. We should just go." But as soon as the words left her lips, the door opened to reveal a woman with wavy blonde hair and light blue eyes.

"Trudie? Trudie Peterson?" I asked with slight uncertainty.

"Yes?" Trudie replied, looking slightly confused by the fact that a pair of twins had randomly showed up on her doorstep.

"Um, hi. I'm Alyssa Gilbert and this is my sister Elena Gilbert. We wanted to talk to you about Isobel Flemming." I awkwardly informed her.

Trudie looked slightly shocked. "Well, I haven't heard that name in years. How do you know her?"

Elena was the one who answered this time. "We think that, um, well...do you know if she had twins that she gave up for adoption?"

"My god. You're her daughters." She let out a breathless laugh. "I was just going to make some tea. Would you like some?"

Elena and I looked at each other with looks of happiness. "Sure."

"Uh, the kitchen's this way." Trudie said, backing away from the door and gesturing for us to walk through. She looked nervous for some reason. As we walked in Trudie released a sigh and shut the door behind us. Elena and I removed our jackets before taking a seat at the table.

"We weren't sure whether we were going to come. We were leaning towards not coming but at the last moment we decided to just go for it. We're really sorry for just barging in like this." I apologised on behalf of the two of us.

"It's no problem. Um, just a surprise, though." Trudie replied with a small smile. "Honestly, I haven't thought about Isobel in years."

Elena decided to jump right in with the questions. "When was the last time you saw her?"

"About 17 years ago, when she left to go have you. We kept in touch for a while, but, well, you know, people drift apart."

"And you don't know where she ended up?" I enquired.

"She was in Florida for a while. She was on her own. I know it wasn't easy."

"Do you have any idea who our father is?" Elena asked. That was a good question. I hadn't really given it any thought.

Trudie frowned. "I could never get her to fess up. Anyway, she finally pulled it together, got into college on a scholarship."

"Where did she go?"

"Somewhere in North Carolina. Duke, I think. Smart girl, smart school." Trudie said lightly. The kettle started whistling in the kitchen.

Trudie stood up. "Let me just grab that."

As soon as she was gone I turned to Elena. "Is it me or is she acting kinda weird."

"Relax Lyss, you're being paranoid. I mean, wouldn't you be shocked to find your old best friend's twin daughters on your doorstep?" Elena said.

"Well, yeah, I guess. But I still have a weird feeling about her."

"Just ignore it." Elena ordered quietly as Trudie walked over to us.

"I was just thinking, I'll go and get my old yearbook." Trudie smiled at us before wandering off.

* * *

When she came back Trudie had a big blue book in her hands. She sat down and opened up the book. The page had the same picture of the cheerleaders that we had seen on Jenna's laptop. Trudie pointed to herself and Isobel.

"Ah. They came to the games for us. The football team hadn't won in years. We were the stars. Well, Izzie was. But I was a damn good backup." Trudie joked with a fond smile.

Elena returned her smile. "This is great. Thank you." She said appreciatively.

"You're welcome." Trudie glanced at our cups of tea. "Neither of you have touched your tea." I gave her a weird look. Why is she so bothered about our tea?

"Oh. Yeah." Elena said and happily sipped her tea. Well, that was until she actually tasted it, she furrowed her brow at the taste.

"What is this?" Elena asked.

"Oh, it's just some herbal mixture." Trudie replied nervously.

I raised an enquiring brow before smelling the tea. That was when it hit me. She knew. The worried look she had when we were about to walk into her house. She specifically didn't invite us in. "It wouldn't happen to be vervain, would it?" She didn't respond. "So, I was right. You know."

"Know what?" Trudie asked, playing dumb.

"Drop the act. It's obvious you know. You didn't invite us in, and you're serving vervain tea. You know." I explained. Elena looked surprised.

Trudie stood up abruptly. "I think that you should probably leave."

"Wait. What are you not telling us?" Elena asked desperately.

"Please leave. Now!" Trudie demanded. We got up quickly and left the house. As we were walking to the car we saw a man standing in the middle of the road. Our pace quickened. We got into the car and I started the engine as quickly as I could.

* * *

"Just ignore it." I mimicked Elena as we drove home.

"Shut up, I didn't know." Elena snapped.

"When you live in a world full of supernatural creatures and you have a weird feeling about someone, you don't use ignore it. You get and you get the hell out of there!"

* * *

I pulled up to the Salvatore boarding house and hopped out of the car. Elena darted towards the house to find Stefan. I walked at a much more casual pace. I climbed the stairs to try and find where she had gone.

"Elena? Stefan?" I called out.

"Better. Me." A voice said. Damon walked out of the bathroom. Shirtless.

My eyes widened as a blush made its way to my cheeks. I tried my best to not stare and drool at his torso. Keeping my eyes on his face, I cleared my throat. "Damon… You uh, you look, well…"

"Dashing? Gorgeous? Irresistible?" He smirked. He walked towards me and made it so there was almost no space between us.

My nose wrinkled up as I smelt his breath which was heavily laced with alcohol. So that's how he deals with things. "Completely and utterly wasted. You look wasted."

"Hmm, I wonder why. Do you know that I am one of Mystic Falls' most eligible bachelors?" He slurred.

"Really?" I asked, feigning surprise.

"Yep."

"So, how are you doing?" I asked gently.

"Fine, never better. Why would I be anything else?" Damon answered, acting as if the whole Katherine thing hadn't effected him.

"Honestly?"

"Yep. So, how are _you_ feeling, Ally?"

"Uh, okay, I guess. Sober. I feel sober, unlike you."

"What are you talking about? I'm completely sober."

I shook my head. "So that's why you breath wreaks of alcohol?"

"I'm a free man now Alyssa." Damon shrugged on a button up shirt and fumbled with the buttons. "So, what can I do for you? I'm a barrel of favours today. It's my newfound purpose, how can I help people?" He smirked.

"I'm here with Elena to meet up with Stefan. We're going to the fundraiser."

Damon continued to struggle with his buttons. He looked up expectantly at me. "Help a guy out, will you? I can't get this."

I sighed and grabbed the front of his shirt, quickly buttoning up the buttons. "You know, we found out who our birth mother is."

"Pfft. Who cares?" Damon replied. I frowned up at him, feeling hurt. Did I really mean so little to him? Seeing my look, he went on to explain himself. "She left you. She sucks." He shrugged.

"Yeah well, she's still-" I started but stopped when I saw Elena and Stefan appear behind Damon. I realised how close Damon and I were and jumped back, clearing your throat. "There you guys are. I was just looking for you."

Elena gave me a skeptical look. "Sure you were."

"I was!" I assured her, walking over to the couple.

Damon started putting his jacket on. "Ugh. I need a bigger jacket. Wow. You know, an occasional sorority girl might, um, you know, help fill you out a little bit."

I turned to Stefan with an accusing look. "He's been drinking from sorority girls? Oh yeah, sure Stefan, Damon's just fine."

Stefan shrugged. "He's Damon."

"Maybe this heartache will be good for him. It'll remind him that he has one, even if it doesn't beat." Elena commented.

"Won't hold my breath." Elena and Stefan chuckled.

"Wow, you guys are mean." I playfully shook my head at them. "Did you tell Stefan about our little visit to Trudie Peterson's house?" I asked my twin. Stefan's expression hardened. "I'm going to take that as a no."

Elena threw me a glare before turning to Stefan with an apologetic look. "I know. I'm sorry. We didn't exactly plan it."

Stefan sighed as his expression softened. "How was it?"

"She has vervain. She knows about vampires, and it can't be a coincidence." I stated.

Stefan shook his head. "It isn't. This is Alaric's wife." He took out a picture. The girl in the picture, Alaric's wife, was Isobel Flemming.

"This is her. This is Isobel. He gave this to you?" elena said, taking the photo.

"Everything he knows about vampires, he learned from her. He believes that she was killed by one."

"Oh my god." Elena whispered.

"Listen to me, there's a lot about Isobel that Alaric can tell you, but I need you to hold off a little while before you talk to him."

"Why?" I asked.

"I know that it's a lot to ask of you, but will you do that for me?" Elena and I shared a look and nodded.

I noticed the sad look in Elena's eyes. We had lost our mother before we got to meet her. "Well, look on the bright side. At least we gained a step-dad." I said, trying once again to cheer my sister up.

She gave me a small smile. "Yeah."

* * *

Elena, Caroline, Matt, and I were at the Grill for the fundraiser.

"He's already been hit on, like, 35 times. He's total cougar bait." Caroline snickered, referring to Matt, who looked very sheepish.

"Impressive." Elena smirked. I let out a small giggle.

"More like embarrassing." Matt said awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. We all laughed again. Matt's mom, Kelly Donovan, walked up to us.

"Hi Mrs. Donovan." Caroline greeted her sweetly.

Kelly glanced at her with distaste, which I thought was extremely rude and unnecessary. Caroline looked down, upset by Kelly's actions. However, Kelly payed no mind and turned her attention to Elena and I. "Alyssa, Sweetheart. Elena, honey." Kelly greeted us with a big smile. Because Matt and Elena used to date and I used to hang out with them a lot, Kelly had grown very fond of us.

"Hi Kelly." We both replied guiltily as Kelly hugged us both. We both felt bad for Caroline.

"Long time, no see."

"How are you doing?" Elena asked politely.

"Oh, same old. Oh, Matty tells me you broke his heart." She playfully accused Elena.

"Mom." Matt whined.

Kelly glanced at him and chuckled. "Just kidding. Calm down. He found his rebound girl." She glanced at Caroline. I had to bite my tongue to avoid saying something and causing a scene. I settled for a heated glare.

"Oh. Here you go, sweetheart. However many that'll buy." Kelly handed some money to Caroline, who took it with a small smile. "I just hope I don't get Bachelor 3. I dated him in high school. Not impressive." She lowered her voice. "In any way." Oh god. TMI. I feel sick. Matt shook his head, obviously embarrassed by his mother's behaviour. Poor kid. Caroline handed Kelly her tickets. "Very exciting." Kelly grinned before walking off. I shook my head and looked off to the left, catching Alaric's eye. We stared at each other for a moment before he walked off.

* * *

Carol Lockwood was introducing all of the bachelors. I was sat at a table with Elena and Jenna.

"And what do you do, Bachelor Number 3?" Carol asked, with a sickeningly sweet tone.

"Yeah, I'm a plumber." The man grunted.

"Well, isn't that wonderful? We could always use more plumbers. Moving on. Number 4, "Alaric Saltzman." Wow. That's quite a mouthful. What do you do, Alaric?"

"I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High." Alaric replied, looking very awkward. He was standing next to Damon, who was watching his every move for some reason.

"Oh, beauty and brains, ladies. This one's a keeper. What do you teach?" Carol smiled.

"History."

"History. Oh, well, give us a fun fact about Mystic Falls, something crazy." Alaric glanced at Damon, who held his hand up to his ear, sarcastically anticipating a response. I shook my head at him.

"Uh, well…" Alaric mumbled nervously.

Carol clearly sensed his nervousness and pulled the mic away. "He's probably saving the best stories for his date." She moved down the line to Damon, looking at him as if he were a piece of meat. Tch, like he'd ever go for her. I'm not jealous. "And last, but not least, Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Elena waving at someone. I looked over and saw Stefan waving back.

"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card." Damon smirked.

"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?" Carol asked.

"Oh, yeah. L.A., New York. Couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina. Near the Duke campus, actually. I think-I think Alaric went to school there. Didn't you, Ric?" Damon asked Alaric, who turned to look at him. Wait, Duke? "Yeah, 'cause I-I know your wife did." I froze. "I had a drink with her once." My eyes widened. "She was-she was a great girl. Did I ever tell you that? 'Cause she was delicious." My hand flew up to my mouth as my eyes filled with tears.

"Are you two okay?" Jenna asked, concerned. I looked over at Elena who had reacted the same way I did.

"We just need some air." Elena said shakily, excusing us. We stood up and walked past Stefan out of the Grill.

* * *

Elena began pacing around as soon as we got outside while I just hugged myself and stood still. Stefan came out of the Grill and walked over to us.

Elena turned to face him. "He killed her? Damon was the vampire that killed her?" She asked bluntly.

"I don't know what happened. Alaric said that they never found the body."

"Oh my god. Stefan." Elena whimpered. I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

"I know. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you. But I just…I wanted to know more."

"We were feeling sorry for him, hoping that this whole Katherine thing would change him. We're so stupid." Elena said in a regretful tone.

"He doesn't know about the connection to you. I thought about confronting him, but he's already so on edge." Stefan explained.

"Why are you protecting him?" Elena asked, annoyed.

Stefan sighed. "Because you're not the only ones hoping that he might actually change."

Elena shook her head slightly as her and Stefan stared at each other. She then glanced over Stefan's shoulder and back up at him, but did a double take when she saw something. I followed her gaze and saw the man from earlier.

"That man." Elena muttered. Stefan turned around and looked at the man, who was watching us.

"We saw that man outside of Trudie's."

"Get back inside. Come on." Stefan ushered us back inside the Grill.

* * *

I saw Damon and felt anger rush through me. I walked over to him and pushed him slightly. "How could you?!" I hissed.

"What?" He frowned.

"I have always stuck up for you. Given every one of your stupid actions a reason, told myself you weren't a bad person, and you go and do this?" I spat angrily.

Stefan walked up to me and held me back. "Alyssa."

"Am I missing something here?" Damon asked, raising a brow.

"Did I forget to mention earlier when we were talking about mine and Elena's birth mother? The one that gave us up?" Damon gave me a look telling me to get to the point. "Her name was Isobel." And then it hit him. Tears gathered in my eyes. "So go ahead. Reminisce about how you killed her." I glared at him before pushing past him.

* * *

I walked outside and paced up and down, trying to calm myself down.

"Alyssa." I heard Elena call. I looked up and abruptly stopped pacing when I saw the man from earlier standing in front of me. Stefan came to stand by me, ready to protect Elena and I.

"I have a message for you." The man stated.

"What?" I asked.

"Who are you?" Stefan enquired.

"Stop looking." The man ignored Stefan's question.

"Stop looking for what?" Elena asked, she was just as confused as I was.

"She doesn't want to know you. She doesn't want to talk to you."

My eyes widened. "Isobel?"

"You need to stop looking. Do you understand?"

"She's alive? Does that mean she's a-" I started to walk forward but was stopped by Stefan pulling me back.

"Alyssa, he's under compulsion." He informed me.

"Do you understand?" The man repeated.

I forced myself to reply after realising Elena wasn't going to reply. "Yes. We do."

"Good." The man looked down the street. "I'm done now." He stepped backwards into the road. At that moment a large truck blared its horn and hit the man, killing him.

I gasped and jumped back while Elena clutched Stefan's arm. "Oh my god." We ran into the middle of the street. People around us started yelling. Stefan knelt down and examined the man. Elena and I spotted a phone that must have fallen out of the man's pocket. I motioned for Elena it pick it up, which she did, and put it in her pocket.

Stefan quickly stood up and placed either hand on mine and Elena's shoulders. "Come on. Let's get out of here. Come on." He murmured as he dragged us away from the scene.

* * *

Elena and I were sat in her bed, neither of us wanting to be alone. We were both thinking about everything that happened today. Elena picked up a picture from her bedside table. It was a picture of us, Jeremy and our parents. We both stared at it for a moment before she placed it down on her lap. I glanced at her, silently asking whether I should get phone. She nodded in response. I grabbed the phone and searched for the last number that was dialled. I took a deep breath before calling the number, leaning into Elena so she could hear the conversation. After a few rings, someone finally picked up on the other end.

"Was there a problem? Did you find them? What's going on?" A feminine voice questioned.

"Isobel?" I asked quietly. The woman hung up without another word. I locked the phone and looked over at a tearful Elena with my own tear filled eyes.


	16. There Goes the Neighbour Hood

**Alyssa's POV**

I haven't spoken to Damon since I told him the truth about mine and Elena's mother. I was sat at the dining room table drinking a cup of coffee.

"What's wrong with you?" Jeremy asked, joining me at the table.

"Nothing." I pouted, not in the mood to talk.

Jeremy rolled his eyes at me, obviously seeing that I was upset. "Whatever."

"Morning guys!" Elena greeted as she walked into the room. She got two grunts as a reply. "Alyssa and Jeremy; ever the cheerful ones." I heard her mutter to herself.

"Oh, don't worry about those two. Jeremy's just grouchy because his friend is moving and Alyssa is…well, Alyssa. She doesn't do mornings." Jenna chuckled from the kitchen.

"I resent that!" I protested. "I could totally be a morning person if I wanted to."

"Maybe when pigs fly." Jeremy snickered.

"Well, I don't need to stay here and be insulted. I can take a hint." I huffed as I got up. "I suggest you two hurry up if you want a ride." I added bitterly, which made them all laugh.

* * *

Elena, Stefan, and I were stood by Elena's locker.

"Damon hasn't said a word to me. Every time I try to talk to him he shuts me down." Stefan said. I scoffed at the mention of Damon.

"Do you think he's still trying to find Katherine?" Elena asked.

"Probably. There's no way he'd just give up, right Stef?" I sighed.

Stefan shook his head. "I'm not so sure. He waited a hundred and forty five years only to find out that Katherine couldn't care less. I mean it's got to hurt, right?"

Elena scoffed. "And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." She sneered.

"You both have every reason to be upset with him. Have you thought any more about what you're going to do?"

Elena raised a brow. "About what? Isobel, our vampire birth mother, who's related to our vampire ancestor Katherine, who screwed over your vampire brother? Nah… we haven't thought about it at all."

"I'm sorry I brought it up." Stefan frowned.

"I'm more worried about telling Jeremy." I said softly.

Elena nodded her head in agreement and then sighed. "It'd just be nice if we could get through one day without having to deal with any of it. No vampire mother, ancestor or brother."

Stefan looked slightly offended. "No vampires at all?"

Elena chuckled. "No vampires but you. I just want to get us back to normal stuff like school and homework and here's a thought: fun."

"Do you even know the meaning of that word anymore?" I asked, earning me a glare.

"Well, that sounds good to me, when do we start?" Stefan smirked. All three of us let out a laugh and began walking to class.

* * *

After class we got cornered by Caroline.

"I'm thinking nothing huge, just a dinner at the grill, maybe a late movie." Caroline was currently trying to get Elena and Stefan to double date with her and Matt.

"You mean like a double date?" Stefan asked wearily.

"Two pairs out on a Friday night coupled. Yeah, a double date." Caroline grinned like a cheshire cat.

Elena looked at Caroline cautiously. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Why not? We all haven't gone out together before and I don't want it to be uncomfortable for us. Look, the couple dynamics have changed and there's been a little awkwardness between you, Matt, and me and I just think it's important that we get over it."

I cleared my throat. "As much as I love being a third wheel…or a fifth wheel…or whatever! I'm going to head home. Elena, I'm assuming Stefan will bring you home."

"Of course I will, Ally." Stefan smiled at me.

"Bye!"

* * *

"Hey Jer-Bear!" I yelled as I jumped onto Jeremy's bed and made myself comfortable. Jeremy rushed to turn his monitor off, but I caught a glimpse of what he was looking at. A vampire chat room. This could be bad…for Elena. I voted that we should tell him the truth but nope, Elena just _had_ to have his memories erased.

"Uh, hey." He replied nervously.

"You okay?" I asked slowly.

"Yup, why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason."

"Alyssa!" Jenna yelled from downstairs.

"Well, I'd better go see what she wants. Stay out of trouble." I warned as I ruffled Jeremy's hair.

He swatted my hands away. "Yeah, yeah."

* * *

"What's up, Aunt Jenna?" I asked as I hopped off the last stair.

"Well, you have been far from a bundle of joy today so I've decided that I'm taking you to the Grill to spend some quality time together."

"Yeah, because spending the night with my aunt while my twin is out on a double date will cheer me up." I grumbled. Jenna raised a brow. "I mean…I'd love to Aunt Jenna!" I cheered excitedly. Jenna nodded approvingly.

"Let's go!"

* * *

When we got to the Grill Jenna dragged me over to the bar where I was met with a sickening sight. Damon and Kelly Donovan flirting.

"Kelly? Kelly Donovan?" Jenna asked, shocked at the sight of Matt's mom. Damon caught my eye and sent me a smirk to which I rolled my eyes and looked away.

"Jenna!" Kelly smiled as the two hugged. "Oh, and Alyssa too!"

"Hi." I said bluntly.

Jenna sent me a confused look but brushed my cold attitude off. "I heard you were back in town." She said to Kelly, who shrugged. Jenna turned to Damon. "She used to babysit me." Jenna grinned.

"And then I used to party with her!" Kelly chuckled.

"This woman is crazy!"

"Not as crazy as you!"

Jenna shook her head. "I'm not anymore."

"Well sit, drink!" Kelly pointed at the seat next to her.

"I shouldn't. I'm more responsible now. Haven't you heard?" Jenna joked, jabbing her thumb at me.

"Well, take a night off its good for the soul. I'm sure Ally won't mind."

"Go ahead, Aunt Jenna." I gave her a small smile and sat down two seats away from Kelly.

Jenna sighed and shook her head. "This is not going to end well."

"Can't wait." Damon smirked as the raised their glasses. I sat there with what I imagine was a look of pure misery. Damon got up and walked over to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Hey Jenna, why don't we get Alyssa a drink? She looks miserable."

I shrugged Damon's hands off of my shoulders and turned to look at him. "I wonder why I'm so miserable?" I hissed, my voice laced with sarcasm.

Damon sighed. "C'mon, you still haven't forgiven me?"

Jenna contemplated Damon's suggestion before answering. "I suppose one wouldn't hurt, but only one, okay?"

"No thanks Jenna, I'm good." I replied, still glaring at Damon.

"Are you two an item?" Kelly asked, sounding disappointed.

"No." I answered sharply before Damon could say anything. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Elena, Stefan, Caroline, and Matt by the pool table. I got up and stormed over to them. "Sorry guys, but I'm crashing your date. Stefan, save me from your brother!" I pouted, clutching Stefan's arm. They all laughed at me.

"No problem sis!" Elena grinned. "So, Matt. How do you like working here?"

"It's not that bad. Wait staff is pretty good and they can't keep a bartender to save their lives. I actually put my mom up for a job." Well Matty, judging by the way she's flirting with Damon, that job interview didn't go so well, if at all.

"How has that been? Having Kelly back?" Elena asked, sounding concerned for our blonde haired friend.

"You know, same old Kelly. She's trying, sort of." Matt shrugged lightly.

"Kelly and our mom were best friends growing up. That's how Matt first met Alyssa and I, we shared a crib together." Elena giggled fondly at the memory.

"You're kidding?" Stefan smiled.

"Nope!" I answered, popping the 'p'.

Matt shook his head with a smile and added to my answer. "No, we've known each other our whole lives." Caroline let out a sigh. Was she jealous? Probably. "You've got to be kidding me." Matt groaned. I followed his gaze, as did everyone else, and saw that he was looking at Jenna, Damon, and his mom. I huffed, rolled my eyes, and looked away. Stefan gave me a sympathetic look and patted my back.

Caroline shrugged as the adults clinked their classes together. "At least they're having fun."

Elena rolled her eyes. "They're drunk."

"Remember when Elena and Alyssa's parents busted us here after the homecoming?" Matt grinned.

"Oh my god, yes!" Caroline laughed.

"That was a good night." I nodded my head in agreement.

Elena turned to a curious Stefan. "Well, we were wasted; it was the first time I ever got drunk. I blame Matt."

"Elena and Alyssa's parents got seated at the next booth." Matt said.

"And Matt had me pretend that I was choking so we could get away." Elena giggled.

"Except that their dad was a doctor so he jumped up to save her."

"And I ran, slipped on the wet floor and bit it in front of everyone. Do you remember that? 3 stitches, a hangover for days and I was grounded from seeing this one," She looked at Matt, "for a week!" Matt, Elena, and I burst out into laughter.

"And the lesson of that story is: never get Elena drunk. She can not handle her alcohol!" I managed to say through my giggles. Stefan smirked and shook his head.

"I'm gonna go to the restroom. Elena?" Caroline spoke up, obviously wanting to talk to Elena alone. They both left for the bathroom.

I turned to Matt and Stefan. "So guys, who's up for losing?" I grinned, gesturing to the pool table.

"Well, I'm up for winning." Stefan chuckled, setting up the game.

* * *

We were soon playing a heated game. Stefan was, oh how I hate to admit, thrashing me.

"Is there anything you're not good at?" Matt joked.

"Hey, I'm good at this too! I'm just…not at full strength today." Yeah that, and I'm up against a vampire. It's not fair!

"Sure you are." Matt said, drawing out the 'sure'. I stuck my tongue out at him. He just shook his head and grinned at my childishness.

"I'm not good at double dating. This is all kind of new to me. I usually keep to myself. I don't always fit in." Stefan said. Jeez, he's so brooding.

"That's because you're that guy." Matt shrugged.

"Huh?" I stood up straight with a questioning look.

Stefan, who was just as confused as I was, asked, "What guy?"

"The guy who seems like he has everything, so the people that don't, kind of run the other way." Matt explained.

"Is that what I seem like?" Stefan asked us both.

"Maybe a little…" I murmured.

"Pretty much." Matt answered.

"Hmm... What a dick!" Stefan grinned.

Matt chuckled. "Yeah."

"Well, as heart warming as that all was, this isn't a double date anymore! I crashed it." I laughed as I took my turn.

* * *

Elena and Caroline finally came back from the bathroom. I was pouting at the fact that Stefan was beating me.

"How's everything going?" Elena asked as she reached us. She raised an eyebrow at my expression.

"Stefan's beating me but I have reason to believe that he's cheating." I nodded as if I were confirming the truth.

Stefan snickered. "I can't help being awesome at pool."

"Lies." I stated.

Stefan shook his head and looked at my twin. She had an amused look on her face but there was a hint of confusion and fright in her eyes. "Everything okay?" He asked.

Elena smiled a fake smile. "Everything's great." She said as she typed out a message on her phone and showed us. The text read 'That man over there just called me Katherine'. My eyes widened as Stefan began walking towards the people, only to find that they had already left.

* * *

We ended up going back to Stefan's place. Elena, Stefan, and I were in Elena's car and she was just pulling up to the house.

"So, you didn't recognise him, you haven't seen him before?" Stefan asked Elena, referring to the guy who called her Katherine.

Elena shook her head. "No, there was nothing familiar about him at all."

"Right, let's call it a night. Okay? Send Matt and Caroline home?"

"No, the whole point of the night was to not have to deal with this stuff. We need to get through one night. One normal night."

"You're sure?" Stefan asked cautiously.

Elena answered without hesitating. "No, I'm not sure, but I don't know what else to do. Look, if there's another vampire in town, he'll still be here tomorrow. We'll deal with it tomorrow."

"Okay." Matt and Caroline pulled up to the house. "It's them. Come here." He said, pulling Elena closer to him.

"Oh no, c'mon guys! I don't wanna see that. Keep it PG!" I whined causing them both to laugh.

* * *

We all walked into the living room where Matt and Caroline started looking around.

"This is much better than watching Damon visit cougar town." Caroline snorted and looked at Matt. "No offence."

Matt and I both shuddered for different reasons. "Don't remind me." He looked at Stefan. "Man, I've always wanted to see what it looks like in this place."

Stefan chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it's a bit much."

"Yeah, my entire house could fit in here, like twice." Matt agreed.

"Feel like I've been here before. It's weird." Caroline frowned. Maybe that's because you have.

Elena quickly changed the subject. "Do you guys want to watch a movie or something?"

Matt suddenly spotted something that made his eyes light up. "Whoa; these are great!" He walked towards a collection of miniature cars.

Stefan looked awkward. "This is uh… a little hobby of mine."

"I did the entire Mustang series when I was 9."

"You like cars?"

Matt let out a loud laugh. "That's an understatement!"

Stefan smirked. "Come with me."

* * *

We all followed Stefan to his garage. He opened the door and then turned to Matt. "Prepare yourself, my friend." He removed a cover to reveal a relatively old looking car.

"Wait, how do you have this?" Matt looked like a kid on Christmas day.

"Got passed down through the family." Stefan opened the car door.

"Why don't you… I mean… Why don't you drive it?"

"Well, it doesn't run. I mean, it's not that I could figure out."

"Why would you keep a car that doesn't run?" Caroline asked as if it were the weirdest thing she'd ever heard.

"Be more of a girl right now?" Matt snickered. Caroline giggled.

"Hey, want to come take a look at this for me?" Stefan asked Matt.

Matt grinned and nodded. He then turned to Elena and I. "You guys, remember the old Camaro your dad used to have?"

"Yep." I answered. Matt loved that car.

"Of course." Elena grinned.

"I built and rebuilt that engine 20 times." Matt said proudly.

Stefan looked impressed. "Wow."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "I don't like sports cars; they're too hard to make out in."

Matt looked at Elena. "It wasn't that bad." AWKWARD. Elena looked around uncomfortably as Caroline walked out of the garage. Elena and I sighed and ran after her.

* * *

"Caroline…"

"Care…" Elena and I cooed at the same time.

Caroline shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You're being ridiculous." Elena stated.

"And insecure and stupid. But that doesn't change the fact that Matt's always gonna be in love with you and I'm always gonna be the back up." Caroline sobbed.

I walked over to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her. "You're not the back up." I told her gently.

"Yes, I am. I'm Matt's Elena back up; I'm your Elena and Bonnie back up."

"So now Bonnie and I are involved in this?" I asked with a slightly cold tone.

"You don't get it. Why would either of you get it? You're both someone's first choice. Everyone's first choice, actually." Caroline cried. I pulled away from her and stood by Elena. Caroline may be upset but she has no right to pin any of this on Bonnie, Elena and I. Stefan and Matt chose that moment to pull up in the car.

Matt got out with a big smile on his face. "Piece of cake!" He looked over at Caroline miserable face.

"You know what? Why don't you guys go ahead and take it for a spin?" Stefan suggested.

"Really?" Matt asked, surprised.

"Yeah."

"Caroline?" Caroline nodded and they both got in the car. Matt quickly pulled away, eager to drive the car.

"You alright?" Stefan asked us as he embraced Elena.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Caroline's just being dramatic."

Elena sighed, looking pretty exhausted. "If it's not vampires, it's girlfriends."

* * *

"Mom?!"

"Damon?!" We heard Caroline and Matt yell. We ran inside just as Kelly walked out. My eyes met Damon's who looked surprised to see me. I shook my head and looked away.

Matt looked at Caroline. "I've got to-"

"It's fine, just go." She cut him off.

"We'll take her home." Elena assured him. He nodded.

Matt gave the car keys back to Stefan. "Thanks, man." I risked another glance at Damon to find him still carefully watching. I sharply turned on my heel and walked out to the car.

* * *

Caroline, Elena and Stefan walked out of the house. I was already in the car, sitting in the passenger seat. Caroline got in and sighed heavily.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about earlier." She gave me a small smile in the driver's mirror.

I returned her smile. "You're forgiven."

Elena finally stopped sucking Stefan's face off and got into the driver's seat. "Let's go home."

* * *

I walked out of the bathroom, having just brushed my teeth and found my window open. I frowned as I realised that I hadn't opened my window. I felt a presence behind me and turned around. It was Damon. "What do you want?" I asked dryly.

"You're still angry?" He asked.

I stared at him with disbelief written all over my face. "You turned my mother into a vampire. Yes, I'm still angry!" I hissed, shutting my door so no one would hear us.

"I didn't know she was your mother!"

"That means nothing to me. Now, why are you here?"

"I want things to go back to normal. We were actually getting along." Damon explained.

I shook my head. "No, that stunt you pulled tonight was the last straw. Just leave, Damon. I don't want you here." I said weakly.

He walked over to me and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. "That's not true."

I took a deep breath and looked up. "Yes, it is. Just go, please." I whispered. We stared at each other until I closed my eyes, trying to escape his gaze. When I opened my eyes, he was gone.

* * *

**The next update was sooner than I thought! Hope you've enjoyed this chapter :)**


End file.
